Steam and Tears
by holmesfreak1412
Summary: AU. Fire Demon Princess Azula reins uncontested and unchallenged throughout the razed land. That is, until she finds a human baby on her doorstep that she keeps on a whim and will teach her that fire is not only for world domination and that even the hot steam from The Monster can also dry tears. "And I will name her Ty Lee."
1. Frostbite

Title: Steam and Tears

Author: holmesfreak1412

Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Pairing: Azula & Ty Lee

Rating: M

Genre: Supernatural, Romance

Summary: (Demon!AU) And so, Fire Demon Princess Azula reins uncontested and unchallenged throughout the razed land. That is, until she finds a human baby on her doorstep who will teach her that fire is not only for world domination and that even the hot steam of The Monster can also dry tears. "And I will name her Ty Lee."

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the ATLA franchise.

…

 **First Act**

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 **ONE**

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 _ **Frostbite**_

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The palanquin bearers halted. The foot servants gasped. And Fire Demon Princess Azula, of notorious and bloody reputation stuck her head out of the curtained window in impatience, red lips curled in displeasure. Snow fell down in gentle pace, the white sheet encompassing the whole land that could be seen for miles. The chill was present but not biting. And even the same set of servants she was glaring at now did not seem to be as affected by the weather as the Fire Demon obviously was. _Crunch_ , _crunch_ , _crunch_ , was the rhythmic sound that had lulled her into reverie until it stopped.

The Gates of Ozai loomed before her, imposing and infallible.

She briefly thought that the castle itself looked picturesque for once, nowhere near the dark and dingy fortress that it was known to be, pyramids of white poking out of the blue skies. So the Winter this year was not that bad— terrible snowstorms were yet to come and the temperature was not too cold to inhibit their Firebending. But it was bad news nevertheless and that warranted her bad mood. This was the time of the year when the Water Tribe Pixies were in their strongest. Conquests were inevitable, despite its futility. They seemed to think that as long as the Fire Nation has not figured out how to control the weather yet, then there was still a sliver of chance.

And for one thing, Azula was never one to appreciate aesthetics.

They had been standing before the Gates for far too long and the gasps of astonishment from the men and her bodyguards were enough to drive her away from battle plans and how to teach those Water Peasants their lessons. This was the reason why Azula's head was halfway out of the palanquin, staring down the nearest manservant. Although the cause of why said man barely even noticed her radiating killer intent and chose to sport the wide-eyed look of surprise instead to something at the front that she cannot see is still an immediate mystery.

The unspoken question hung in the air, Azula clenching her fist on the sill. But it was soon answered when a shrill cry broke into the tranquillity and her battle instincts flared. It was not a battle cry, or at least not one that she recognized from encountering Water Pixies who do not even Water Bend and Earth Elves who can do nothing better but throw rocks. The shrieking oscillated into almost a melodic outburst that sounded vaguely familiar. But none of her bodyguards made a move. Even her Dai Li pets, who threw around bigger rocks like those boring elves but whose killer instinct was just so _demonic,_ were rooted to the spot.

Azula would have barked orders and called them into positions except that she felt as confused to the sudden intrusion as they were.

Until— _crunch, crunch, crunch—_ Mai finally ran back to where Azula can see her.

There was a haphazard bundle of pink— _pink!—_ in her arms where it was apparent that the slowly dying noise was coming from, replaced by just a tired wheezing that distantly reminded her of a Bearded Cat's mating call and she still did not know how to make sense of that either. Her handpicked General was as impassive and stoic as ever, posture rigid when she held the pink mess of cloth closer for her inspection. But Azula knew her long enough to spy on the look of wonder in her amber eyes and despite her own demonic instincts, Azula's curiosity was piqued.

Against her judgement, she parted the curtain and lowered herself on the snow—crunch. As they were trained to do, the Dai Li immediately surround her. Predictably enough, the air was tensed. Mai held out her arms once more. The pink bundle moved slightly. And behold, before her eyes was the smallest…

"What is this?" the princess flared up in confusion, vaguely noting that the… creature would have resembled anyone in their world save for the darker pixies, except that her eyes seemed too round too gray and her ears too rounded. And it looked… _fragile._ Like a bearded kitten too. No elf, no pixie and certainly no demon would look this vulnerable. And there had not been an Air Nomad Sprite in the past thousand years. Its lips curved into what could resemble a smile when their eyes met and little stubby fingers that did not look like claws reach out.

It touched Azula's nose.

The princess flinched.

The creature emitted another sound again, sounding like how the cowardly Elf King once did when his pet Bosco rubbed its filthy head on his arms, the sort of pleasure that Azula never understood.

She preferred drinking blood, thank you very much.

No, she corrected herself. Water Pixie blood is bland. That of the Earth Elves; are just too pungent. Azula liked to drink human blood. And that reminded her of her upcoming trip to the surface where she had to hunt her sustenance for the rest of the year, dressed in dark cloaks and slight magic. Fire Nation Demons were the ones that look least conspicuous which was probably why their Royal Family were the only ones allowed to feast on the weaklings aboveground for generations. Zuzu was probably there somewhere too, she thought.

Hunting prey had also become easier and easier over time. A flash of human currency and she could lure an attractive woman to a secluded place and devour her. She had learned that this type of woman was called prostitute, an existence so pathetic that their fellow human did not even notice when they were gone. It helped that she also enjoyed the carnal pleasure that she permitted before the inevitable sinking of the fangs. Father once said that she enjoyed it too much he was already worried about her producing an heir. Azula had always preferred the company of females. _Human females_ , to be exact.

The train of thoughts about delicious, enticing, beautiful humans could have spark a breakthrough but Azula was too distracted of what would wait for her aboveground quest in the next season to make the connection. Mai helpfully supplied the answers. "It is a human baby."

"A what?" Azula shrugged the pleasant thought off, the conclusion honestly unheard. She stared at the creature in her friend's arms. "What did you say?"

"It is a human baby." Mai repeated flatly but not patiently, face unmoving. "I would have thought that you would know that better than anyone. Seeing as you are the one going up there every year to feed, aren't you?"

"You join me sometimes."

"That is besides the point." Mai yawned, pushing the pink, smiling bundle towards the Princess.

Said pink bundle still contained the same grinning creature. A mop of brown covered its small head, gray eyes too big for its chubby face. Azula held it closer for another look and her nose was accosted once again.

Suddenly, her nose was seized by a familiar waft of scent that reminded her of steaming hot sugar cakes and well, those trips in the human world's whorehouses. "Can I drink her blood?" she inquired excitedly, her tongue involuntarily seeking her protruding fangs.

Mai raised her eyebrow, surprised that the princess was even asking. "Well, nobody can stop you." she shrugged.

Azula gazed at the human baby's tantalizing neck, inching for a bite. She could almost see the veins on its plain complexion, could almost see the blood pumping in each vessel. But she realized that this little wisp could probably only hold a few pints, barely enough to keep her in bay once the withdrawal kicked in. Ten pints has always been her dosage. This little thing could probably give her two. At most.

Suddenly, the baby cries a pained scream.

Trails of smoke rise from the fingers that a moment ago, had pinched Azula's nose. The fist was dangerously red, burnt. Alarmed, Azula almost dropped it, realizing that she had emitted too much heat in her bloodthirsty excitement. Tears started to stain the child's cheeks and the momentary scream of pain escalated to a song of a wounded bearded cat, much louder than the one earlier.

"Hey! Hey!" She was sure that nobody would have seen this coming but Princess Azula was panicking. "Hey! Stop!"

Mai stared on, unabashed by the Princess's absolute dubiousness. The baby continued to wail. "Maybe you could sing to it."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Just eat it."

"What?"

"God, she is so loud." Mai complained.

"She?"

The infant persisted.

This time, Azula did what she did best. Firebend.

But much to Mai's surprise, the pink bundle did not catch fire. Instead, Azula held it close to her face and with a loud sigh of controlled breath, blew steam on the baby's face. The tears evaporated almost immediately and the little human stopped bawling, reduced to staring dumbly at the warm-breathed Princess.

Gold orbs met gray.

The baby smiled. And reached back to her nose again.

There was no fear in her eyes.

It… _giggled,_ sounding like Kuei once again. What pleased her, Azula had no idea. She certainly was not trying to act cuddly like that stupid bear did.

 _Pinch._

Giggle.

It was… nice.

And Azula realized that indeed, this little thing was too small to satisfy her.

Azula would not kill her.

Not yet.

….

.

.

"So what would you name her?"

Azula looked up at Mai, confused and taken aback for the second time of the day. The nonbending assassin and best friend for the past one hundred years sighed.

"What would you name your human baby?"

Azula shrugged, straightening up. The baby was now sleeping peacefully at the cushioned makeshift crib, or what they would call those pile of red pillows the Princess stuffed on the bedroom couch. "I do not even intend to." She sat across from Mai, cross-legged. "Do you name livestock?"

Mai scoffed, the closest that she would come to a mocking guffaw. "Do you let pig-chickens sleep on your bed room?"

"I am just letting her grow up a bit." Azula explained, annoyed at the logic. Maybe she should have just thrown the thing on the one of the dungeons or something. But that meant that it would cry and she did not want… What? What? "And then when she is taller, I will eat her." She compromised.

Mai did not even cringe, well used to the princess' brash language. And, she also ate humans with Azula, thank you very much. At a regular basis too, she added to herself guiltlessly. "And that would probably be… quite a long way from today."

"Humans age faster."

"Uh-huh." The assassin replied, nonplussed. "And she would be as tall as you in say, fourteen years. Maybe then, you could fuck her."

Silence.

Azula forgot that humans age slower than pig-chickens as well.

And that this human would probably grow up like all those girls in the whorehouses. Beautiful, stunning, delicious…

Azula sighed, giving in. "So fine, I'll name her." She glanced at the snoozing mess of brown hair and chubby, little limbs. She did not remember being an imp. That was like, a century ago. "What do you have in mind."

"Wouldn't want to call her 'human' or 'baby' for the next fourteen years." Mai paused. "Something Earth Kingdom. Maybe she can pass as your slave."

Azula winced, not wanting to go through all the names of the Dai Li at the top of her head. She did know any. "I am sure that I can be more creative."

Another sigh. "Sure you can try."

The Princess risked another look at the dozing baby and was reminded of how the little thing fearlessly stared back, smiling as she once again held her nose despite being burnt the first time. The hand was bandaged now, taken care of by one of Water Pixie slaves. But she was struck by the epiphany that in her hundred years of existence, nobody ever looked at her like that, not even her mother, damn her soul. It reminded her of what she only saw in books but never once experienced, back when all four nations existed in pure harmony. _Peace,_ a voice whispered. _Peace,_ something that was said to be so beautiful. They would gain this peace once Fire Nation won. _Peace and beauty._ Something Azula will gain for the world once she herself ends the Millennium War.

She thought of the tedious calligraphy classes that she and Mai were forced to attend, of the old, old languages that they were forced to learn. _Peace and beauty._ "Ty Lee."

"What?" Mai looked up.

"For the next fourteen years, I will take care of the girl. Feed her well. Make sure she is comfortable." Fattening the sheep before the trip to butchery was common practice, of course. She saw that Mai understood, as she always did. "She will know who to serve and what she will be. She would know that I own her and her blood shall be mine."

"Just do not tell her straight out that you will eat her." Mai noted glumly. "Nobody would want to hear that."

Azula ignored her in favour of standing up dramatically. She must think this is a baptism ceremony, Mai thought with an imaginary headshake. "And I will name her Ty Lee."

….

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.

Ty Lee in her toddler years was an little mess of uncontrollable, excitable, loud energy that ran around the whole palace, agilely evading servants, screaming at the top of her lungs, grinning like a damn, idiot and always, always on the hunt for a hair or hide of _her_ Azula.

And always, always or rather _everyday,_ no matter where Azula and Mai coop themselves up in order to peruse through battle plans and military blueprints in relative peace, the little brown-haired human of two years always managed to find them.

Nobody knew where this little airhead came from. Two years of turning over stones did not unearth anything.

"I'll be damned."

Mai looked up, thinking that Azula had finally figured out how to solve the puzzle of how to control the seasons. Fire Nation's ambition is endless. Or maybe she finally got a hold of Ty Lee's ancestry somehow. Only to spy a flash of pink leaping onto the Princess, a crash of falling furniture and a painfully undignified: "Oof!"

"'Zula!" the joyous exclamation confirmed the obvious. Mai rolled her eyes. Briefly, she amused herself on the Princess's futile attempt to disentangle herself from the energetic two-year old, an everyday occurrence for the past year since the human learned how to walk.

And how to talk.

"Ty Lee!" Azula's stern reprimand is muffled by the excited body of the giggling human. "If you won't get off me, I will burn you!"

Empty, empty threats. Everyone knew that the most that Azula Firebent on Ty Lee was to blow steam on her tears, whenever the little girl decided that playing crybaby was the best way to get the Princess' attention. Which unfortunately for the supposedly scary Princess, worked more often than not. Most of the time though, the little human just have to jump on her bones and voila, Azula was already fixated on pleasing her just to get rid of her.

"Play!" Ty Lee exclaimed happily, but nevertheless untangling herself from the disgruntled Fire Demon. Seated on her lap, protuberant eyes stared up hopefully at the golden glare. "Let's play 'Zula!"

"I'm busy." Azula huffed, moving to shrug off the far too upbeat knucklehead but it only prompted the girl to latch on further. The Princess sighed loudly, exasperated. "Fine, what in the world do you want me to do?"

"You can play fire?" Hopeful.

"No." The princess declined. "Ask the servants."

"But their fire is not pretty."

"Pretty? All fire is pretty."

"Blue! I want blue fire!

In those two years, Ty Lee has surprisingly gotten well acquainted to the fact that virtually everyone in the palace has pointed ears, clawed hands and that most of them can incinerate things _accidentally,_ something that delighted the girl to no end. The little pyromaniac had once asked why she was so different, why her ears are rounded, why her eyes are gray. Most importantly, why there is no one as small as her anywhere in the palace except the pig-chickens. Azula just muttered, patronizing that she was born to be special to especially serve her.

"Like the servants?"

"You would know in due time."

And Ty Lee would probably realize that as soon as she would notice that the rest is nowhere older while she is getting progressively taller.

"No." Azula said once more, breaking Mai off her thoughts. Slowly, she pushed the human off her. "I'm busy."

 _Three… two… one…_

Fat tears started to ooze down from the rounded gray eyes and…

"Geez." Azula mumbled sulkily and blew controlled heat towards the human's face. The threatening waterworks immediately dried up, the gray eyes wide with excitement. The little trick never ceased to amaze the little girl and she once again wrapped herself around the FireBender.

"Oof." Another undignified reaction.

Mai watched as Azula lay on the floor in a messy heap, the toddler now dozing off on top of her after pronouncing her undying love to the frowning Fire Demon, breathing peacefully for a few moments as she twirled a finger on the young girl's braided hair. Twelve years from now, she would drink this girl's blood. Probably bring her to her bed too and fuck her like all the other human girls. But in the meantime there was peace and beauty as she held the view of the Princess just savouring the child's company. Maybe, she was just smelling her blood or something, Mai thought.

 _And I will name her Ty Lee._

Surely, the Monster who brought down Ba Sing Se, razed the Earth Kingdom to the ground and was trying to control the weather would not find peace in this ridiculous, noisy, exuberant bundle of pink airheadedness. The world has never been enough for Azula. Yes, Mai thought, finally finding something that made sense. Azula just liked the smell of the girl's blood.

There was silence as Azula quietly placed the sleeping girl on the couch. It persisted until she came back to the table, rubbing her forehead. There was pained frown on her countenance, as if confused, torn, not knowing what to do.

That happened quite a lot ever since Ty Lee came to their lives.

"Do you need to go up the surface again?" Mai ventured, raising an eyebrow. In the past hundred years, she has learned how to read Azula quite well. Thirst was one of her more transparent emotions. Lip-biting, uneven breathing, closed eyes. The baring of the fangs helped too.

Azula breathed in, breathed out and her fangs glinted on the candlelight. "This is getting harder each time."

"And yet you are not doing it." Mai said nonchalantly. She ran her hands on the world map, watching the frustrated Fire Demon, face crunch. "There is a betting pool around the servants you know. They are all wondering when you would finally snap and break Ty Lee's neck."

There was a flash of… something in Azula's golden eyes. Mai almost smirked. "What did you bet on?" Azula asked and the assassin discerned malice in the Princess' tone.

Not at all unnerved, Mai shrugged. "I said you would last until she was fourteen."

There was relief in Azula's eyes, disguised only by a sharp turn in the head and a quick pretext of amusement. "You think I can control myself?"

"I can always just suggest you go and buy yourself some girls aboveground anytime that there is danger. Like I am about to do now." Mai raised both eyebrows, allowing herself a condescending smile this time. "I am very confident that I would win, you see."

And Mai knew better than anyone that Azula has exercised a remarkable amount of control so far in the past two years. And not only because Ty Lee was an insufferable, little brat who openly adored the Princess. Or a difficult child who would only stop crying at the sight of her apple in the eye. In every day that the Princess blew steam on Ty Lee's tears, not once did the little human get burned.

If that is not control, Mai did not know what was.

Though nobody could deny it. Ty Lee smelled really, really good. Like warm fruit tarts straight off from the ovens. It probably was sugar cakes for Azula or more likely, the smell of burning corpses. She was evil like that. _The world is never enough._

Azula also wanted to conquer the human world.

"When you go aboveground, buy two humans and bring one here." It has been so long.

Azula smirked.

"You desire a threesome?"

Another conspiratorial smirk crossed Mai's face, looking forward for tonight.

Meanwhile, little Ty Lee slept on.

 **(TBC)**

…

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	2. Moonbeam

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 **TWO**

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 ** _Moonbeam_**

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A lunar eclipse was a symbolic event to every Fire Demon, where for once in literally a red moon, they feel the strongest at what would have been their weakest. Though of no significant strategic merit (for unlike the Comet, there really was no sense for said goblins to exercise such temporary advantage), the celestial event was lavishly celebrated nevertheless. The Festival of the Red Moon is something that every Fire Demon looked forward to. That meant, a break from the frontlines for those who bent fire and a dayoff from the rigorous industrial work in the coal mines for those who do not. Princess Azula was of no exception. And wide-eyed, seven-year old Ty Lee could certainly say that the day of the Red Moon has always been her favourite.

The palace was a buzz of activity, servants scurrying all around to prepare for the festivities of the night. But that was only a minor cause of annoyance to the attention-seeking Ty Lee, who despite five years of being in company of fire breathing demons had only grown into a taller version of her two-year old airheadedness. Later tonight, at the strike of the rising red moon, Princess Azula would sure to be home early for once, an occurrence that was alarmingly growing less frequent over the past years.

Busy, was always the reason why. Even before Ty Lee learned what that dismissive word meant, she knew she would never like it. Princess Azula is very busy at the moment. Ugh.

The thought did not dampen the child's mood though as surprisingly enough, she was the type to take only what she can get. And be satisfied with it. At least, Azula made it a point to make the few times that they were together as amazing as possible. She got to sleep on her lap for one thing or do that warm breath thing and her tears would vanish. Yes, Ty Lee enthusiastically nodded to herself, lighting up with admiration with the Princess she had not seen for a full month. Tonight would be absolutely amazing!

Kneading the white dough that she had been rubbing absently on the board ever since the servant bent fire to the ovens (and Ty Lee was reminded that it has been so long since she saw blue flames), she deftly formed it into a shape that vaguely resembled a topknot, curved facial structure, two presses for the eyes and a slight smile. Fire cookies were fun to make. Ty Lee decided that she would make more for tonight.

Two years ago, she remembered sitting on Azula's lap while feasting on the same cookies, albeit not shaped like the amazing Azula yet. The red moon had been beautiful that night. Ty Lee did not cry and as a reward, Azula let her sleep in her arms. Last year had been less fun but still awesome nevertheless. She got to accompany Azula on the balcony as she made that amazing speech to the servants with a lot of difficult words that she would now describe as "poetic but scary in a good way" after lessons and lessons of calligraphy in the last few months. She felt smarter now, much better so Ty Lee was sure that tonight would be the awesomest of all the Red Moon days so far.

Maybe Ty Lee could get Azula to tell her a bedtime story or something because this time, Ty Lee would surely understand all those hard words now.

And also, one of the servants allowed her to shape the cookies this time too, once they realized that she was bored to death with fire insignia and letters. Seven years with Princess Azula gave Ty Lee the edge that the princess was as susceptible to compliments as anyone else. She seemed to smile more if Ty Lee said that she was really pretty. She would have branded it as self-conceit if Ty Lee already knew what that meant. But she did not. And well, Princess Azula was really pretty.

But seriously, Azula was like the most beautiful, smartest, perfect... girl and now that she thought about it, could she think of Azula as a woman or a girl? The servants were called women, according to her tutor. And the coach and Dai Li and guards were the men. But they all looked older than Azula, bearded with ugly wrinkles. And the tip of their ears were whitish which was kind of blaaah. And Azula looked only slightly older than Ty Lee (Ty Lee stood to her shoulder) and Ty Lee was called a girl. But for as long as she could remember, that was always how Azula looked like. Don't girls grow into women? Same goes for Mai as well and speaking of Mai...

The aforementioned... girl came strutting into the kitchen, face still as ever and eyes surveying the clutter all around the counter. She looked pretty (impeccable would be a word she would only learn when Azula would say it about herself). Upon setting her sights on Ty Lee, her face did not even light up unlike the other Fire Demons. Even Azula, in all her coolness blared red everytime Ty Lee is within the vicinity which the seven-year old liked because red mixed well with her usual purple. Mai on the other hand, was always gray and dingy. Ty Lee got used to it enough for her to learn to like it.

And Ty Lee liked everyone.

"Where's 'Zula?" she piped in, perky as ever. Mai's stony gaze was fixed on her hands and Ty Lee gladly brandished one of her finished products. A cute, little facsimile of her beautiful Princess. Wait until Cook bakes it. But Mai just stared blankly on and looked away with a sigh. "Do you want me to make one like you too?" she asked. Though Mai's elaborate hairdo would be much more complicated, Ty Lee was never one to back down from a challenge.

"Gee. No thanks." Another sigh.

"Where's 'Zula?" she asked again, happily undeterred.

A sigh. Three. It used to be a game. How many times Mai could sigh? Oops, there's the rhyme. Poetic. Another thing to agree with Azula about. "Busy."

To Mai and probably to most of the other servants, this was a familiar dance. Azula was always busy. And Ty Lee always zealously asked where she was. Invariably. The answers were well-rehearsed and indifferent no matter how Ty Lee asked it, merely going through the motions of dismissing the young girl. Her adoration for the princess was laughably pathetic considering that they did not even see each other much. Azula had been preoccupied largely with war meetings as the possibility of the Avatar's existence had not been fully eradicated yet. And when she found time to get away, she would always be aboveground, relieving stress.

So Mai was left with the curious, grinning, fragrant Ty Lee most of the time. It could be quite a drag, honestly. "Where is she though?"

It was particularly tedious during special occasions.

It did not help that Azula was usually even more spent whenever she managed to humour the little human's antics which was like, once a month? The symptoms of withdrawal were horrible and unfortunately, Mai was always left to deal with the cranky, hungry Princess and an exuberant, annoying human. The numerous war meeting had been bearing down on Azula lately.

The Day of the Red Moon at least should give her a break.

"If you are asking whether she would come home tonight..." the nonbending assassin deliberately paused, watching with a wince as the young girl looked up expectantly. "don't worry because she should."

"Should?" She was surprised that she got a lot from that nuance.

"It is her obligation." Mai sat on a stool in front of the girl, inspecting the Azula cookies. She cringed and set for honesty. "Unless of course something will come up."

A gasp of horror from the small human, the board momentarily clattering. Her round, gray eyes if possible got even bigger and her posture was so rigid, Mai worried that she would fall down from the stool she was stepping on. Those eyes were too big for her baby animal face to begin with. It added to the helpless effect. "Will something come up?"

"Gee. How should I know?" Mai snapped, rolling her eyes. She used the same tone of exasperation as she would to a servant asking her if it would rain. "Last time I checked though I cannot firebend, I am not promoted as an oracle yet."

Ty Lee's face scrunched into confusion, sculpting Azula figurehead cookies into the dough abandoned. Her eyes narrowed. "But you are so smart. Shouldn't you know everything?"

"Certainly not everything about Azula." Mai raised one brow. "Do you know everything about her?"

"No." She looked so sad, so adorably sad that Mai fought the urge to gobble her up and eat her. "But then again I am not so smart." Suddenly, her face lit up. "I do know that Azula is amazing though."

"Where's 'Zula?", "Azula is amazing!" and "I love Azula!" was the pitiable extent of seven-year old Ty Lee's vocabulary. That, and the word awesome. All those adjectives wasted on a woman who probably would eat her in the next few years. "I mean, she could just burn them with her awesome blue fire. 'Zula is super amazing!"

The awestruck face was just too much.

"Meh." Mai scoffed. "She's terrible."

Azula could shoot all the lightning she wanted at her friend but Mai would never kiss the ground she walked on. If anything, she considered them equals who knew each other's dirtiest secrets. Being a confidante and occasional lover would render anyone quite jaded.

Ty Lee was just so deluded, so young.

And so this somehow culminated into something that Mai always dreaded, the very reason why she avoided associating with their human ward as much as possible. Fat rivulets of tears started to leak from her glittering eyes – she looked like a damn baby again- and Mai sighed in exasperation. How Azula managed to exercise control baffled her. But on second thought, maybe Ty Lee's pout weakens fire or something? Ludicrous. Four.

"You do know..." she hissed, glaring impassively at the crying girl. Sigh. Five. "That I do not blow steam to your tears, don't you?"

"'Zula does." She sniffled.

Sigh. Six.

"That's the sixth."

Mai's head snapped up in surprise. Right when she was preparing to flee. "What?"

Ty Lee sneezed loudly, wiping her face listlessly. There was a impish grin on her face that Mai did not expect nor understand. The little demon... She sometimes wondered whether this girl really was human. Were those pathetic creatures as mischievous when they were younger? No wonder. "You sigh a lot."

There was a hint of a smile in her eyes as she regarded the slightly miffed Fire Demon and she giggled.

She was reminded of a young Azula, cackling as she watched Mai embarrass herself.

Giggled like all those years ago as she touched Azula just after getting burnt.

Well, Mai thought, no wonder she avoided this little monster at first like she futilely tried to do with Azula.

"You are counting." She deadpanned but there was the unmistakable hint of amusement in her voice.

It was the start of a beautiful friendship.

...

.

.

Mai was not aware of it yet though and so for the rest of the night as Ty Lee stubbornly clung to her side while waiting for the servants to announce the Princess' arrival, it had been an absolute drag to maintain the facade of composure. She got off easy when the waterworks threatened to burst a while ago but it was not like she blew steam to her tears like Azula usually ended up doing. Mai doubted that she could sigh her way out once again from a Ty Lee-esque tantrum. As far as she could see from the rigorous eight hours that the human was glued to her hip, she already got bored in counting.

Except for the hours that went by. And eight hours it was. Seated on the balcony as slowly each of the fire cookies disappeared, the moon was already halfway crimson and yet no signs of the royal palanquin emerged from the high gates. Letters, shapes and she even got through the animals already. Ty Lee stared frowning towards the imposing gates, her little hands cradling the bowl of the half-burnt, disfigured Azula cookies the young human was so proud of. When Mai tried to fish out one, the human had slapped her arm away.

The nerve...

"I thought 'Zula would be coming home early." The displeasure in her tone was so uncharacteristic, so unTyLeelike that even Mai held back an inevitable tired sigh.

"'Should'." Mai intoned, paraphrasing herself. She snatched up another letter cookie, having nothing better to do. "I did not say anything to get your hopes up."

"Do you think something bad happened?"

"I am sure something just came up." She was surprised when the words of reassurance came out but even Mai herself wondered what in the world that something could be. There certainly would be no war meetings held in the Phoenix King's palace anytime during the Lunar Eclipse. Even megalomaniacs could take a break. "And you know Azula."

"'Zula has always been on time." She murmurs, hugging the porcelain bowl of Azula sweety goodness closer. "Because she is very punctual."

Mai did not bother correcting her on the redundancy. The girl was probably not far enough on her lessons to know that word yet anyway and well when it came to patronizing Azula, three adjectives in a sentence were not enough for Ty Lee.

Ty Lee stared blankly at the gates. Mai gazed up the moon.

A round ball of red now shone brilliantly onto the night sky and though she did not have an spark of fire within her body, Mai felt a surge of intoxicating power nevertheless. Nothing comparable to the legendary Sozin's comet that she experienced once while on the front lines with Azula but it was there. Like a raging fire in a terrible snowstorm. The red moon.

All the other Fire Cookie jars were emptied. The Azula ones stayed.

But for as long as the moon stayed red, no Azula came.

...

Ty Lee woke at the sound of servants excitedly chattering that the Princess was back.

She figured that she must have fallen asleep sometime after crying in the reluctant Mai's arms, spent and exhausted after fruitless hours of waiting. Touching her face, she felt the stains of the relentless tears that fell and was mildly jarred. She imagined that her face must look like a disgusting crunch of wet mess, as Azula eloquently once put it. She rubbed her eyes. This never happened whenever Azula was there to blow steam on her.

And Azula was the only reason Ty Lee ever cried.

Looking around her surroundings, she realized that she was sprawled in her room now, her legs draped by the familiar softness of her silk red blankets. There was the sound of several running feet outside her room, a very familiar event that only happened in the infrequent instances that the Princess was home from the Capital. From Ty Lee's window, she could see that the moon was no longer red. In its place were the slowly brightening sky and the rising sun. The Day of the Red Moon was not the type of party that lasted from dusk till dawn. Afterwards, they were all back to business.

Springing up from her bed, Ty Lee skipped towards the door in excitement and opened it with the flourish of an agile young girl. Everyone else in the palace was so uptight and old, she easily would come to the superlative. The hall now was deserted and she thought that they must all be rushing to welcome the Princess back to her extravagant abode once again. Azula's chambers were located at the top castle of the palace, two wings from Ty Lee's own. Mai's was nearer but then until tonight, Ty Lee only thought of her nothing more as The Gray Lady. Mai was fun too, she had discovered. But Azula was _funner_.

Azula could summon those amazing blue flames. Mai rarely ever brandished her knife collections but from what Ty Lee saw, they weren't as enthralling.

Reaching the common room with a sprint, she found the servants now preparing to set up the necessities for a royal breakfast and for a second, Ty Lee wondered how long before she was roused had the whole thing started without her. She always was there whenever the double doors were opened for Azula. From the corner of her eye, she spied the palanquin bearers already walking away on a single file as they retired away for the night. There were more Dai Li agents around. And the maids were no longer rehearsing their welcome greeting.

"Where's 'Zula?"

Ty Lee was perkier than usual when she asked because she knew that she would get a good answer this time. At her question, multiples heads turned towards her, looking surprised. Everyone stopped whatever they were doing as if apprehended.

The awkward silence threatened to overwhelm her excitement.

Ty Lee's smile froze.

One of the better dressed maids—that older lady who was always scolding the cook every chance she got—stepped forward and gave Ty Lee everyone's favourite excuse. "Princess Azula is very busy at the moment."

Her knees almost buckled and Ty Lee resisted the urge to stomp in frustration. "But she just came home!" She did not intend to whine but she did anyway.

The woman's tone was stern, dismissive yet again. Some of what the other demons called "authority" made no secret of how derisive they were of Ty Lee's presence. When she asked for more information, the maids just told her that she was different, as if she did not know that, weird ears and all. In any case, it was true that she was the prettiest thing in the castle except Azula (considering that the competition were merely shrivelled old maids and dingy, pasty Mai, that was easy). But that was no excuse to not be nice to her!

Ty Lee wanted to like and love everyone so she decided to be considerate. "Is 'Zula sleeping?" She batted her eyes for effect. It even worked for Azula!

The old lady was unfazed.

"The Princess is very much preoccupied as of the moment." Is the response of another old woman who... looked like the other lady. Wow, Ty Lee never realized there were two of them. Some kind of a magic trick? "I suggest you retire to your chambers now Missy."

Lady Ty Lee. The other servants called her Lady Ty Lee.

Together, the two old symmetrical old women said. "The Princess specifically requested not to be disturbed."

Well, that one was not new.

"Well..." Ty Lee grinned, mischievous and confident. She took pleasure as the old women listened on warily. "I am sure 'Zula would not mind."

She bolted towards the space between the two scary old crones, running in full speed towards the winding stairs. Ty Lee leaped two steps at a time before she heard something that startled her.

"Dai Li! Stop her!"

Some rocks flew towards her and it was only pure instinct that let her evade the Earth Gloves, spinning sideways as the projectiles pinned itselves on the wall. Cartwheeling quickly as the agents started the chase, Ty Lee skidded, climbed and tumbled agilely in the maze that was leading to Azula's quarters. In the past, no matter how tenacious she could get, they never ordered the Dai Li to intercept her. She would have wondered what in the world changed if the adrenaline-infused system in her body did not relish this little game of tag. She dodged, jumped, flipped over. She could hear their pants as they struggled to catch up. Before long, she was already long gone from their sight.

That was easy.

The little acrobat ran towards Azula's room, thinking that indeed this was going to be the awesomest reunion ever.

She prepared her tears. Ty Lee in the past seven years, had perfected the tricks of feigning them, just as Azula knew perfectly how to stop them.

...

.

"So Ty Lee is on her way to her doom..." Mai yawned, effectively masking her irritation about her beauty sleep being interrupted because of the Dai Li's incompetence, Lo and Li's uptight ways and Ty Lee being up to no good again. Like that was some big news. She sighed. "Just let her be. She would know anyway."

"But Princess Azula—"

"What is done is done." She shrugged, going back to her blankets. The rest of her words were now muffled by the sheets. "It's not like you can catch her now. Can you?"

Eversince Ty Lee learned how to perform cartwheels (after watching Azula pummel her own Dai Li agents in a spar with a needless display of acrobatics), the lives of her poor keepers had never been the same. She was as tenacious as a cockroach, something that you would not realize you fear until you discover that they had wings. And Ty Lee was like some sort of airbender incarnate, except that myth told them that sprites were not quite easy in the eyes. Ty Lee was kind of cute. It made Mai sick many a time.

"But then she will see—"

"Just let her see it." Mai said with finality. And sighed again, rubbing her forehead as she contemplated on Ty Lee's infuriatingly happy (or happily, infuriating) grin and the tears that will come all because of The Monster of the West. "Maybe it is about time for her to stop her naiveté."

...

.

Ignorance is a bliss.

Knowing, on the other hand is plain, absolute horror.

Ty Lee never heard of such wise words before but when she would for the first time seven years into the future, the night after the Red Moon this year would be the first thing that would come to mind.

She would remember her younger, naive self pushing the door open, would remember not wondering why the door was unlocked because Azula almost never did. She would remember the overwhelming glee she felt, the excitement seizing her bearings as she thought of an itinerary of what they would do for the next day. She would remember seeing gold-flecked eyes first and the rest of it a second later, piercing and focused before glancing at her in surprise.

She would remember the trail of blood dripping from Azula's fangs.

Ty Lee did not even know she had fangs.

But what Ty Lee was struck most at the time was the bigger picture, the things that was immediately noticeable to a child with observation skills such as hers. Azula was naked, her pallid, bare shoulder showing from the mess of silk blankets sprawled around her. Her hair was undone, long tresses of obsidian flowing and sticking on her perspiring frame. In her arms was a limp body of a woman, herself naked and head hanging in an uncomfortable angle. Azula's mouth was poised over a wound on the woman's neck that was already oozing blood.

The woman's ears were rounded, like Ty Lee's.

Ty Lee would also remember, once she saw death with her own eyes some years later that the woman looked dangerously close to it.

The surprise of seeing the seven-year old forced Princess Azula to relinquish her hold over the woman. Ty Lee would remember the body gracelessly falling on the sheets, leaving streams of red, red blood flowing from the gaping wound. Not that it would make any difference on the pristine red sheets. But in that moment, she was drawn more to the blood on Azula's face—how it contrasted on her pale face, thought distantly of the woman's rounded ears and absently touched her own.

"Ty Lee." Once she had gathered her composure, Azula successfully drawled a tone of remonstrance, glaring fiercely at the young human. The girl almost cowered. Almost. "What are you doing here?"

But Ty Lee only saw blood, only heard the pounding of her ears and could only smell the pungent stench of death. And how Azula never looked more beautiful drenched in her own sweat and her face painted with the red of blood. And how the body she just held looked so much like her and unlike all the other people she met so far. Not the Fire Demons. Not the Dai Li elves. Not even the occasional Water Pixies.

Ty Lee would not remember screaming. Ty Lee would not remember fainting. But it was all just too much and she did.

...

.

.

Mai woke up for the second time when Azula herself barged in with an unconscious Ty Lee in her arms. This time, the intrusion was not as unceremonious as the previous one. She pulled herself up as the Princess seated herself on her bed, but not without muttering some sulky complaint over beauty sleep interruptions. Such was their relationship. Azula never took any of her sulk personally. And Mai was the perfect match for Azula's bullshit.

Dressed only in a red robe that only left little to the imagination, Mai felt the familiar tingling in her core as the girl that she had not seen for a month trudged haughtily towards her bed. It was also a familiar dance. Azula came to her as soon as she was done feeding. Though her thirst was quenched, no human had ever satisfied the Princess' libido. She was getting close to mating age and her standards were getting harder and harder to meet.

It did not help at all that the Princess somehow had a peculiar preference for company. The most sought-out bachelor never interested Azula. Mai had been more than accustomed to the arrangement and it was no longer an effort for her to oblige.

Smoothing the sheets with her hands in an half-hearted fidget, Mai stared blankly at the pink bundle in Azula's arms, eyebrows perked. The Princess glared back with an all-too-familiar pronounced scowl, lips turned down in displeasure. But the contest of wills was momentarily disrupted as Azula carefully set the girl down on the bed, placing her head gently on her lap. Ty Lee's face was frozen in discomfort, twitching slightly in a series of winces.

Azula's presence made the torches glow blue and the room was bathed in ethereal shadows. Not that they needed anything more to settle the mood. She had been dying to do something with her own needs for the longest time. Mai stared blankly at her friend. "She saw you feeding?"

There was a flash in her golden eyes. Azula crossed her arms, frowning. "No thanks to you."

Mai sighed. "Well, I am not the one not locking their doors when they were having sleepover with humans." She pointed out, lazily keeping her eyes on the immobile Ty Lee. Azula herself looked worse for wear than usual, tired lines marring the royal's face that she only saw whenever Azula decided to forego sleep for three days in a row. At this point, human blood was always necessary. Her negligence was almost blameless. "You seem stressed out."

"War meetings." Azula replied, releasing her own sigh. Her fingers were now on Ty Lee's brown hair, drawing circles. "There is to be a solar eclipse two months from now."

That alone was alarming. "Total?"

The Princess shook her head. "No. Just a partial one. It probably would not cover half of the sun for a few minutes. But Father Lord is concerned nevertheless."

Though not the darkest, it still would be a dark day.

But nothing unmanageable for the race who had the world wrapped around their claws for a millennia.

Not wanting to show her relief, the assassin merely shrugged. "Seems concerning enough for you to miss out on the Red Moon Feast. Ty Lee had been waiting."

"Ah. No wonder she was pretty much more excitable than usual."

Azula almost sounded like a doting parent, the way her mother cooed over Tomtom over the smallest of things. It was making Mai nauseous like only colourful things could. "Gee. Understatement of the year. She was unstoppable. Maybe next time, try to finish sucking them off aboveground. Would be safer."

Azula's forehead creased. Annoyed. "I do what i want to do in my home."

"Lock your doors next time then." Mai noted, feigning a yawn.

Azula scoffed and it almost sounded like she was stifling a chuckle. Mai could tell that she was trying not to say it too... fondly. "Well, she got it coming. It is not like we can keep it a secret for the rest of her life."

"Her short, pathetic life you mean." Mai corrected glumly and with relish, she watched another unidentifiable emotion crossed the Princess' face. As of the moment, Mai would rather try not to acknowledge it for what it really was. Azula missing Ty Lee was one thing already. "Geez, the whole palace wants to eat her. It is just about time for her to know that."

"And for her to know that she is mine too." Azula murmured, her fingers delicately ghosting over Ty Lee's lips. There was a look of contemplation in her eyes, a focus so admirable that it won wars just with her words. A smirk slowly began to grace her flawless features. Mai wanted to throw up.

Ty Lee started to stir.

"You can have the Dai Li brainwash her or what." Mai suggested, her eyes drawn to Azula's fingers and how it caressed... really caressed the girl's cheek. She licked her own lips. "Or maybe show Lo and Li in bikini. That is two years worth of childhood trauma."

Azula laughed. It was an unsettling sound, like a box of crickets.

The Princess's apparent mirth roused Ty Lee off her stupor, her gray eyes opening and her arms flailing. Azula, without so much ado held her back down, murmuring words and hushhushes and blew air on her face. There was a billow of steam rising, a hiss of evaporating water and Mai sighed at being spared of Ty Lee bursting into tears again. She had had enough of the waterworks for the whole day. She could at least trust Azula on saving her from that.

Almost immediately, the little budding acrobat closed her eyes.

Mai sighed. That was so easy... almost freaking boring.

"Sleep well Ty Lee..." Azula mutters, raking her fingers on brown strands of hair. Mai had many a time wondered how easy she could charm her way on any human. Maybe another one of her special skills, she decided. "Sleep well..."

Azula's eyes were on Mai's and slowly, the assassin felt herself smiling.

"Great to see you again, Mai."

"Will you be staying for long?" She inched closer, now smelling the intoxicating scent the Princess was giving off. Agni, she hoped Azula brought another human for her to share.

"Perhaps no." The Princess replied, a little too breathlessly. "But after the troublesome eclipse, everything should start looking up."

"Ty Lee would be looking forward to that."

Again, she chuckled. "I suppose."

And so, like she had years ago, little Ty Lee slept on as Mai and Azula's lips met

.

.

 **(TBC)**


	3. Bloodthirst

..

 **THREE**

 **.**

 **.**

 ** _Bloodthirst_**

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

Ten-year old Ty Lee glared at the interloper standing on the doorstep, dressed scantily in the most obscene of outfits imaginable and wearing a self-satisfied smirk that by now the little human was familiar of hating. In the last three years as the war was seized into some semblance of ceasefire , the sight of another human like her had been commonplace. Ty Lee, for one did not really know what changed. For as long as she could remember, the only irregularity that took place in her decade of living was of Azula and Mai being sent away for months on end. The servants, when asked all attributed it to "busy" and "war", words that despite all her vocabulary lessons grew more ambiguous each time.

Azula never permitted her to venture out of the palace and subconsciously, Ty Lee was aware that it was because the world beyond the High Gates of Ozai was perilous for a human like her. After that time from the day of the Red Moon, Ty Lee never saw Azula kill another one again but it would be overly naive of her to even think that it had stopped. Azula needed humans as much as Ty Lee needed water. Distantly, she had always wondered whether Azula also needed her that way. The servants evaded that question. And the Dai Li did not talk much.

The past three years however had made her decide that maybe it was not that bad.

The smirking woman at the door for instance was one of those humans who accidentally got acquainted to the shady reality of demons and was lavishly rewarded for it. (Ty Lee had heard that the diamonds that they used for writing, utensils and toys was like some God in the humanworld. She did not understand. At the risk of sounding like Mai, it was just a sparkling, shimmering rock.) For the past year, this human always came knocking on their doors every month and always asked for Azula. Azula always came and smiled and held the woman's hand and they always went to her chambers and oh, how Ty Lee hated her.

She wished she died like that other one.

But for some reason, she was still alive. And this infuriating woman did not seem to mind the bruises, the wounds and the blood. Azula would kiss her goodbye on the door after all was said and done. One month later, she would come back on top shape, smirking the same smirk at Ty Lee and kissing Azula full on the lips like she had the right to. Mai would yawn and would ask them to get a room. Ty Lee would glare in utter hatred. But Azula would still slink away.

It was an all too familiar dance.

Ty Lee absolutely hated every minute of it.

Of course, there had been some other girls who had successfully convinced Ty Lee that humans really were abhorrent creatures (except her but that was because she practically grew up with demons who were nothing short of amazing). But more often than not, she usually did not see them be seen off from the door. (And at the middle of the night, the Dai Li was also digging up some grave. It was no secret at all) But this one was just so persistent on making Ty Lee's life unbearable that she was still alive and well after so long. It did not help that Azula seemed to like her so much too.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite human..." said Princess greeted cordially from behind Ty Lee, her only slightly taller frame casting shadows on her vision. The woman did not even have the courtesy to bow down and Azula... did not mind. "Why don't you come in and warm yourself Jun?"

This Jun replied with a different kind of smirk, dark, painted lips quirking upwards. She looked excited, conniving. Ty Lee did not trust her as far as she could throw her. "Oh... but little Ty Lee does not seem to be willing to welcome guests at this hour." Her eyes were bright as she looked down at Ty Lee. The younger human just glared back. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Nothing important." Azula said, subtly brushing Ty Lee out of the way. The human stumbled back, watching as the two girls exchanged kisses.

The human child casted her gaze back to the abandoned Pai Sho board, pieces strewn haphazardly all over the place. Azula just came around on teaching her the mechanics of the game, something she found out recently that the Princess secretly enjoyed. For Ty Lee who craved common ground with Azula more than anything, this was a monumental bonding moment. She was still years behind understanding Azula's brand of poetry. She could not bend fire. But she certainly could try to sit through a boardgame. And this human just have to ruin it.

Breathlessly they parted, Azula's arms were around Jun's shoulders and she was panting on the other woman's neck. Jun herself looked no better, eyes closed and intoxicated. Ty Lee felt the same way in Azula's presence so she sympathized. Not nearly as obscene though. But the Princess would take her breath away, would make her so happy for some reason.

Ty Lee saw the emerging fangs.

"Gee. Get a room please."

Mai. Another familiar, albeit more comforting presence. Ty Lee whirled around and found the only sensible person in the room as of the moment standing with an impassive expression. She held Azula's stare and glanced blankly at Jun. If Ty Lee had not known her other bestfriend better, she would have thought she was just being her usual grumpy self. Mai also did not like Jun, she could tell. "I'd rather not see this." She grumbled.

Azula broke away from Jun, grabbed her hand and ceremoniously led her to the stairs. "Let us go to my chambers then." She murmured, no, _purred_ , the sultry air of command present. And the human obediently followed with a smirk of her own. Hips swayed. Her perfume was an intoxicating smell of roses and wine. Ty Lee was disgusted.

Ty Lee felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and she looked back up. Mai was giving her one of those warning looks—silent headshake- but the human girl was not to be dissuaded to what she was about to do.

She ran to catch up to the pair. In those short seconds, they have scaled one floor already. "'Zula!"

The two women stopped on their tracks, spinning around in askance. The human was frowning, glaring acidly at the young girl. Azula had her perfect eyebrows raised, seeming curious.

Ty Lee held her gaze.

It was now or never.

"You can just drink my blood, you know." she muttered in as dignified a manner as she could, now realizing how ridiculous the notion would be. But there was Dutch Courage that came forth from the desire to get rid of the annoying intrusion called Jun. She glared back fiercely, petulant as a feisty mouse. And then she reaffirmed herself. "You can drink my blood too 'Zula."

Stunned silence.

Mai's soft patter of footsteps echoed from behind, reluctantly trailing behind the overexcited, impetuous human.

Azula must have caught her friend's eye before she just chuckled dismissively and Jun awkwardly followed. Her shoulders were quaking, seized by the sheer hilarity of the suggestion.

Ty Lee felt that she was about to cry.

"You're such an imp, Ty Lee." Azula chortled but there was something in her eyes, something that she hastily covered with forced mirth. Uneasy. In those subtle gestures, Ty Lee saw that Azula was too surprised to know how to react. "Hilarious."

And she walked away hand in hand with the older human. And Ty Lee was left miserably pondering on why she was never good enough.

...

.

.

The door in Azula's chamber creaked open and Ty Lee's head hurriedly snapped up.

The Princess was surprised to find the young acrobat hunched to herself in the hallway, fidgeting with her fingers right before the Princess came out from the room. It must have been two hours or so. At the sight of her, Ty Lee excitedly jumped up to stand, grinning so widely at the slightly miffed Princess that in Azula's good mood, she found herself returning.

But the jolly greeting soon faded into a hostile glare.

Jun came up from behind her, now fully dressed back in her robes but looking paler than usual. There was a noticeable tremble in her shoulders as she pecked the Fire Demon's cheek, slight weakness as she held her ground. How her human mistress had lasted in her service for a year, she did not know. Her blood tasted different each time. Tonight, it was a bit bitter, with an unusual aftertaste that tasted like barely cultured wine but no less delectable. She probably had some sort of way acquiring them into her body within a month and whatever that may be was still worth those diamonds that all humans seemed to adore.

In the past couple of years, it had been harder and harder to smuggle humans back underground, harder still to find time to venture up in the humanworld. Aboveground, they were robbed off the ability to bend despite the irony of being closer to the sun and all. Thus, they ran a risk of being assassinated by the nonbenders. The Water Tribe in particular had started to train their own brand of sword-wielding warriors and had developed a dishonorable skill of stabbing a Fire Demon at the back when they were the most powerless. Patrols were widespread in the humanworld, even though they themselves had their own questionable activities aboveground.

Nothing that Azula could not handle though. She was not a fickle fighter even without her bending. From time to time, she still traveled incognito around the human world to feed but disguise magic considerably required more effort. Jun was a welcome respite to lazy days and all she needed to be paid with were those silly diamonds. She did not even ask for the red, slightly more valuable ones.

She felt the human's warm lips closed over hers, saw Ty Lee's eyes flare up from behind Jun's waves of black hair and Azula immediately broke away.

"Will I be expecting you two weeks from now then?' Jun asked, now walking ahead of her. As they passed by, Ty Lee stood completely straight and trailed silently behind. Mai was long gone. She probably got bored on convincing Ty Lee to go to bed. "It should be fun. I am sure you will enjoy it Princess."

That party Jun was holding. Right. Some kind of a meet-up for other young girls ("Virgins, Princess.") who had the same questionable sexual preference as the two of them. It probably would end with having someone else in Azula's service, provided that they would be the type she would keep around. The type like Jun who could survive for the promise of riches. It was needle in a haystack. But for sure, she would be well-fed by the end of the day.

And they were virgins.

Smirking, she nodded. "Sure." Her golden eyes flashed. Ty Lee shuffled sullenly behind and from the corner of her eye, Azula was drawn to the blood oozing as the girl bit hard on her lips.

"So..." Jun was saying, once again kissing Azula. "I'll see myself out."

Azula was too distracted to properly respond.

Once she was gone, Azula bent down to hold on Ty Lee's shoulders, squeezing it in her haste. She touched her lips, wiped the blood and glared at her in remonstrance. "Do not do that again." She reprimanded, feeling dizzy. There was a red spot on her finger now and she tried hard not to stare too long at it.

"Don't you think I am enough for you 'Zula?" she asked, her eyes now steady as she regarded the Princess. That face she made. The baby animal face. It made many a servant and even good, old Mai falter.

It made Azula watch the freaking stars once. Made Azula do cartwheels. Made Azula almost play Pai Sho with a stupid, human child.

"I have needs too, Ty Lee." She snapped, still holding onto the sulky girl. Unbelievable.

"You can drink my blood."

"No." Not yet. "And this is the last time we will talk about this."

Ty Lee started to bite her lips again and it took all control for Azula not to slap and forcibly subdue her. Control. Restraint. She was not like Zuko and his temper tantrums. Her fire did not simply come from rage. It came from control. Pure, absolute control of her surroundings. "I don't like her."

It was not the first time that Ty Lee expressed this sentiment. She was just so preposterously needy, clingy. She wondered briefly on the marvels of Mai's tolerance with the girl. "Are you jealous?" the Fire Demon blurted, later reprimanding herself for the silly, puerile choice of words but she was rather curious.

And Ty Lee had always been honest to a fault. "Yes."

And tears started to break.

Ugh. Predictable.

As what she always did, Azula blew steam on it. There was a hiss, a sneeze and the waterworks vaporized in an instant. Ty Lee had grown immune already on fainting on the warm sensation, the powerful lullaby but she looked calmer now, subdued and Azula once again wiped the blood off her scrunched face.

She hid her shaking hand.

"Don't do that again." She whispered, drawing the human to her arms. It was normal between them, this proximity. The human had always wanted to be so close and to Azula, it grew to be... tolerable. Ty Lee reluctantly nodded. And Azula deftly picked her up. "Let's go to sleep."

...

.

She brought one finger to her tongue, the same one that she used to clean up Ty Lee's abused lips. Beside her, Ty Lee slept like a baby, breathing patterns calm and composed. Azula licked her finger, felt the flavor of Ty Lee's blood, tasted it for the very first time in ten years.

And there was that indescribable surge of feeling that left Azula reeling, introduced possibilities of bliss and made her want to puke at the same time.

She balled her fists around the sheets.

Oh Agni.

She tasted better than she smelled.

...

.

.

"Two weeks from now is..." Mai paused, glancing at the window in brief thought. "...winter solstice, isn't it?"

Azula nodded, scanning through a couple of pages of war reports. The Fire Nation was winning as usual. Conquests left and right ended in occupation. In no time once the Sozin's comet came, the underworld would surely be theirs. Avatar or none. "Apparently, humans have some sort of festival that gave them excuse to host parties. Jun promised that the night would be very enjoyable."

"It is also Ty Lee's birthday." The knife-thrower pointed out, eyebrows raised. The sentence was punctuated with a hard look and Mai drumming her fingers on the desk.

Azula shrugged, not letting on that it completely escaped her mind. Right. The anniversary of Ty Lee coming to their lives. It started off first with one servant remembering the first year, preparing fruit tarts, cinnamon and sugar cakes as treats. No one dissuaded her of it so it continued. In the past ten years, the whole palace staff had grown accustomed on celebrating the little human's growth and Azula never did say anything against it.

It was a tradition that crept on them.

She had a sneaking suspicion that this was somewhat related to the betting pool Mai had mentioned. How long would Princess Azula last? The older their Lady Ty Lee got, the fewer contenders were there for the grand prize, whatever the hell that would be.

Lo and Li lost five years ago.

"I was hoping that you would come with me." Azula drawled, pointedly dismissing what Mai just reminded her. "It would be fun and it's been a while since you yourself stepped on the surface. Maybe we could look for Zuzu just for old days' sake."

It had been years too (or maybe decades? Azula lost count) since she had seen her own wayward brother, who had been hanging around with fuddy duddy uncle in the human world after getting banished, in futile hopes that the Avatar was somehow lazing around in there. Though he probably could be enjoying his own share of delicious, human blood, it would be more likely that he just got tangled with Uncle's pathetic escapades as a tea connoisseur, one human thing that demons enjoyed.

Azula had many a time wondered why Mai had been once been enamored with the loser.

Mai hummed, not taking the bait. She twirled a stiletto on one hand, spinning it in impossible speed and enviable dexterity. "Can't miss the fruit tarts. Sorry." She did not sound apologetic at all. "You know we all secretly look forward to little Ty Lee's birthday."

"You are just looking forward to the highlight of that day. When the birthday girl is sound asleep." Mai's amused scoff was confirmation enough. "See? So how many people still remained in the betting pool."

"Oh believe me, more than you would think." She replied offhandedly, as if it was unimportant. "We had this wildcard betting three years ago when we could retract whatever we wagered on initially. A lot of people started to believe that you could last longer than ten years. As you can see, they made the right choice."

Azula winced, greatly bothered by how these people had tried to mask the utter comedy of her keeping a human alive into a freaking lottery. Her forehead creased, eyes boring on the stoic assassin. "What's the big prize anyway?"

"I actually do not know." Mai admitted, smirking. "We always thought that you yourself would provide something for the winner."

Azula clucked her tongue uncomfortably. "Then I might as well give it to you then." She did not want to ask Mai whether she stayed with betting on fourteen, or whether she had changed it. As of the moment, she did not want to occupy herself of the impending time when she would have to get what she really wanted from the young human. It was inevitable. It was always supposed to happen.

 _You can drink my blood too 'Zula._

 _No._

She could have easily said "not yet".

Thankfully, Mai did not pursue the matter.

As they finished making sense through the whole bureaucracy of consolidating all war reports, Azula had ventured for the upstanding offer one more time. "Are you sure you don't want to come?"

Mai raised one brow in askance. This translated to her surprise that she asked again. "No."

"If you say so..." she sighed, setting the pile of papers on fire. Azula never kept any incriminating records. What was that mantra again? Better safe than sorry. She stamped the messenger scroll with her Crown Princess seal and prepared for it to be sent.

Mai was still looking at her. "Are you sure you really want to go Azula?"

There was a sagely undertone in her words that annoyed Azula. She huffed indignantly, clenching and unclenching her fist. Harrumph! As if she knew everything about her! "Of course I want to go. Can't miss all the virgin young ladies. Did I mention that they taste better than fruit tarts?"

"Ty Lee would not be happy."

As if she cared. As if that little, boisterous, grinning human mattered to her more than her own sustenance. As if she cared if said bright grin would turn into tears. As if she cared about anything that concerned Ty Lee at all. "Whatever." She grunted with a dismissive wave then sighed. "I'll just buy her some present from the surface."

Sometimes, it would surprise Azula how considerate she found herself to be.

There was an odd look that crossed in Mai's face. Then she shook her head. Condescendingly. "If you say so Azula." She sighed. Azula could swear though that she was stifling a smile. "If you say so."

...

.

Azula and Mai were not the only ones shrewd enough to put two and two together. Ty Lee had learned perusing through the calendars three years ago and all the important dates that would mean that there would be a lazy day in the palace or that Azula would be home for more than a month. There were still those called "unpredictable factors" like "busy" and "war" but as "relative peace" settled in the past three years, these events were occurring lesser and lesser. Ty Lee could not be any happier.

Except those times that the horrible, smirking Jun would make those unwelcome visits. Though she visited once a month, it would not be an exact full month before she would ask for diamonds again. For example, if she visited by the seventh day this month, there would be no guarantee that she would be at the seventh next month too. The woman was highly sporadic and it irked Ty Lee how she did not know exactly when to hide Azula in the western palace gardens (which took two days to travel) in pretext of some recreational activity to have the Princess all by herself. Ty Lee was aware that she was being selfish by even thinking about it but Azula was always welcome to drink her blood. Jun survived for one year and she was nowhere prettier than Ty Lee was. The acrobat was sure that she could manage.

But there was that matter of that day that Jun said she would be expecting Azula in the humanworld (Azula called it many names; aboveground, surface, that Agni-forsaken place) and much to Ty Lee's shock, it was the winter solstice. It was her birthday, when even Lo and Li would give her identical presents and the servants were happily lounging around in various sweet treats. Surely, she wouldn't—

"What would you want me to bring you Ty Lee?" the Princess asked one day while they were seated on the sitting room. Azula was making her read to her one of those books with no pictures and had probably lost patience on correcting her on every word she twisted her tongue on. Something about dragons. Azula liked dragons. "For your birthday I mean."

Ty Lee brightened up. This kind of thing was her element. "But Azula—" She put down the book and it closed with a loud _plop._ "You never ask. I mean, you always know what I want."

Or rather, Ty Lee learns to like whatever Azula gets her because well, it was from Azula and Azula was amazing. Last time, she got Ty Lee a book about names. It did not have pictures on it too but when she found out that her own name meant _Peace and Beauty_ in ancient Fire Nation language, well it became the most treasured thing that she carried around the whole year.

Azula had named her after all.

Azula's was nice too. Azul meant blue in Water Tribe language. Like the cerulean flames that danced on her fingertips. Like her crackling blue-whitish lightning. And her marvelous blue aura whenever she was particularly enthusiastic about something, like "war" and bending. It was a blood red during "busy".

It also meant "demon".

Which was her ancestry and upbringing anyway. Ty Lee decided that it was perfectly normal

"I'll be turning eleven next week." She reminded the fuming demon, beaming brightly. Strangely enough when Azula squinted at her in disinterest, Ty Lee was suddenly seized by curiosity. "How old are you anyway 'Zula?"

The demon was unperturbed, continuing to peruse through her pictureless papers. "More than a hundred. I am not sure myself."

Ty Lee was aghast. "Really?" Azula was... old. But there was no way she could say that to her face. "You don't count?" she compromised. Ty Lee wondered if demons who were "busy" and were at "war" did not really learn to count up more than the hundreds. Ty Lee who only stayed at the castle could now make calculations up to the thousands. She wondered then if that was her purpose in life—to remember what Azula usually forgot. Like some sort of secretary. Maybe she could replace Mai.

"Demons age differently than humans Ty Lee."

Well, Azula certainly was not getting any taller.

Not wanting to dwell on that, Azula plowed on. "As I was saying, I am going up the surface next week." Azula continued, cracking one eye open. "I was thinking that you would want something specific. It saves effort for me to shop around in borrowed time."

"But 'Zula!" Ty Lee protested, unconsciously reverting to the old nickname that Azula tried so hard to discourage. "Next week is my birthday!" In a whisper, she said. "You do know that, right?"

She saw the Princess roll her eyes, stapling her fingers together, trying to calm herself. "Of course, I do. Which is why I am buying you a present dum-dum!" She looked at the human. "Or don't you want one?"

She really was going.

"I want you here with me Azula." The little girl murmured in reply, eyes downcast. She wrung her wrists. "That's all I want."

If Azula chose her over that Jun, Ty Lee would be the happiest. It would be the best gift ever.

But Azula's perked eyebrows, mocking smirk and scathing tone were not good signs and Ty Lee found herself cowering, even unable to summon tears.

Azula stood impatiently and told her icily. "We do not always get what we want Ty Lee." She said, looking angrier than the human had seen her in ten years. "Remember that before you start getting selfish."

And she added, her nose upturned. "And remember your place."

Azula walked away and when Ty Lee broke down, there was no one to blow steam and calm her down.

...

.

Ty Lee's face was buried under the pillows when Mai burst inside her bedroom, muttering something about rising and shining that did not make it as optimistic as it was intended to be. Quiet, dignified footsteps resonated in the room, soft clicking of heels that was personable only to the Princess' primary bodyguard (as the acrobat later discovered when she asked why Mai would accompany Azula to "war" and not as often in "busy"). She felt a weight shift on her bedside, heard soft breathing but for a full minute, she did not hear the soothing words she expected or felt any consoling touch. She would have deluded herself that she was alone once again until Mai sighed.

"I was about to say 'Happy Birthday.'" She droned listlessly, another heavy sigh in between. "But I was afraid it would sound like I am telling a joke."

Ty Lee tried her best to restrain a giggle from coming despite herself. Damn, she was supposed to be sad! Sulky sad. Depressed sad. And I-am-not-coming-out-for-my-birthday-party sad. But the quaking of her shoulders betrayed her. And she resorted into responding versus moping. "And Mai never jokes, right?"

"They never were funny when I try."

Ty Lee gave in and chuckled, her mirth muffled by the pillows. She really could not pretend to sulk for so long. She was a flighty person, as many a servant had fondly described her to be and Mai was probably using this to her advantage. Mai was funny too. Not as funny as... let us not talk about that. "Thanks, anyway." She muttered earnestly, craning her neck slightly to face the suddenly considerate assassin. "Happy Birthday to me."

"You do not seem to be too happy today, Ty Lee."

A grunt was her only response.

"Azula?" Mai questioned.

"Hm." She murmured in her pillows, the beginnings of a frustrated growl bubbling in her throat. "She's not going."

Earlier that morning, Azula left on her carriage especially made for her adventures in the humanworld/aboveground/the surface/Agni-forsaken place, dressed in a cloak that Ty Lee would later find out was also tailored for the occasions. She did not look back, did not bother to say goodbye.

And it ate Ty Lee alive.

"To make up to it, you should have asked her to buy the most expensive thing aboveground." Mai suggested, waving one hand. "She's probably doing that."

"And that is?"

"A harpsichord, I think." Mai paused. "Monstrous thing that could make noises. You could relate."

She tried to imagine what that looked like. Can't. "That's not what I want." Her glum tone, she noticed was visibly affecting the otherwise impassive demon. "I made her angry."

"Probably not your fault."

"Hmph."

From her own unenthused grumble, she could imagine that Mai just shrugged. "I told you before. She is terrible."

"She would not drink my blood!" Ty Lee said, momentarily raising her head as she exclaimed, only to sink back down miserably. She sighed. "I mean, if she is hungry, then I am here. That's my purpose right, Mai? That's why 'Zula kept me here all along."

"Well, good thing you figured that out genius." Tactless as ever, Mai snorted. But there was hesitation there too, like they were treading a dangerous ground. Mai was nothing if not careful, Ty Lee noted. "But seriously, do you have a death birthday wish asking her to do that? Are you one of those pessimists who would say that there is no point in prolonging the inevitable?"

Ty Lee ignored the makings of a philosophy discussion. Or statistics. Whatever. No matter how many lessons, she could never be good in that. "She said no." She mumbled. She bit into the fabric, forcing her eyes closed.

"She probably meant 'not yet'"

"Am I not old enough yet, Mai?"

This time, Mai really sounded confused. She shook the acrobat off her lethargy, pulling her to rise. She held her shoulders. "Gee. Do you really want to die that bad Ty Lee?"

Ty Lee stared back at the squinting, inquisitive amber eyes, unmoving. "Jun is alive."

"And Agni knows how!" Mai rolled her eyes, sighed, rolled her eyes and sighed again. She seemed like she was trying to contain herself. Her palms opened, closed. "You know what, let's not talk about this again. We have a party to attend to. And I hate parties."

She sounded urgent for the first time in years and even Ty Lee was floored. Mai pulled the young birthday girl more forcefully and Ty Lee could profess nothing but silently comply. "Count yourself lucky, human." Mai noted as she watched the child hastily get dressed. And in the dim light of the candles, Ty Lee realized something that she thought she should have guessed. Mai herself had fangs. "Don't talk about things that we are not talking to you about. Blood is a sensitive subject. If Azula says no, it's no. Understood?"

Ty Lee nodded dumbly.

"Good. So let us not talk about this again."

 **(TBC)**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Think of the "underworld" in this story as more of a separate world like Underland in Alice in Wonderland and not like the subterranean society in Artemis Fowl and you should be safely perched in a suspension of disbelief.**

 **"Azul" is obviously the Spanish (Latin? I am horrible with languages) word for blue. "Asura" on the other hand (which could be read as "something demonic" or mighty or superior) is from Indian mythology where the concept of Agni came from. Interestingly enough, Asura was also the superior younger brother in the Naruto Series to Indra who turned sibling rivalry to a whole new level. Bryke were geniuses, as you can see. I thought the Japanese only have that kind of foreshadowing. There's probably more. The last bit with Naruto is random though. Please ignore that.**


	4. Silverbullet

**.**

 **FOUR**

 **.**

 **Silverbullet**

.

The human world was nothing to write home about, a vile place tampered with the vile stench of poverty and misted with the smog of hardship. All around her was the physical evidence of the inferiority of their pathetic race, not that Azula needed any more proof. Beggars held their palms open. Underfed horses trotted. And filthy ruffians fed through scraps and trash. This deplorable state of living was what made the human world a waste of time to conquer, even more so than the peasants in the South Pole. They would have easily bowed down and submitted to the promise of Fire Nation's industry, to the tempting glint of diamonds but then again where would be the fun in that? Demons thrived in challenge. Demons thrived through those who at least put up a fight.

Which was why Azula enjoyed the hunt than willing humans being served to her in a silver platter. Over time, the allure of money-hungry prostitutes waned in favour of stealthy endeavours of finding the perfect, unknowing soul, following them at home when they thought they were the safest. There was that relish she felt when she watched the light fade from their eyes, the most important thing in their existence now out of their reach. She preyed the streets of London in the past few weeks, evading constables, vanishing through labyrinths of alleys, shaded by the dim lighting of the oil lamps. They even gave her a nickname. Whitechapel Monster. In all their incompetence, the humans got something right.

But tonight was not a night of stalking unsuspecting women into cul-de-sacs and hacking them open. The dark, menace of a cloak she abandoned for a well-meaning disguise of the most distinguished noblewoman. Her usually pointed ears were rounded. Her once sharp talons now pudgy like Ty Lee's but much of her general appearance stayed the same. Even in the humans' standard of beauty, she still turned many a married man's head, classically attractive in a sense that rivalled this country's most beautiful seductress. Azula's was a face that men would wage wars for. Humans were silly like that. She emerged from the Stonehenge portal looking impeccable, not one hair out of place and even now as she followed through the late-night theatregoers celebrating the Festival, she looked no less impressive even after trudging through the unsightly, smoggy East End and almost being robbed once.

Jun's dwellings were located somewhere in the more presentable part of this Agni-forsaken country, much like the Middle and Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se. Apparently, every human's first instinct was to flaunt whatever special and remarkable thing they have acquired to the whole world, their own definition of upholding honour. Azula saw enough of that in her own ward, who carried all of her birthday gifts in her person whenever possible. Jun herself made good monetary use of the white diamonds she asked for, choosing to put every earning she made in a manor in the most respectable part of town, within the vicinity of the Capital itself and most likely, if tonight's tryst was any evidence, buying whatever she wanted.

Azula took to walking and refused to get herself a carriage, wanting to enjoy and savour the journey towards the main gates. Heads turned, eyes lingered and Azula loved every moment of being worshipped even when these people did not even know her. Mai had once begrudgingly said that she had this charm amongst humans, a pull that made them instinctively trust her, do everything for her. Jun did say that it was more than diamonds that she kept coming back to. Jin herself, had fallen in love with her...

And there was Ty Lee.

The little human who touched her even after she got burned, who slept on her bed even as it was drenched by her own kind's blood, who would willingly give her blood even after she saw what it did to others. Azula was by no means confused. She was born to rule, born to reign. There was always something about her that deserved to be viewed and followed with such devotion. But in Azula's mind, she felt an indescribable pang when Ty Lee had offered herself to her, a sudden jolt that instantly rendered her feeling inadequate, inferior. Her stomach churned in ways that she never experienced before. She felt... weak. And she hated it. She hated every minute of it.

Somehow, she felt that she needed to get away from those gray, protuberant eyes and here she was, staring up at the majestic facade as she put her hand around the knocker. She tapped thrice, waited and the door swooshed (it did not creak) open. Her little human whore appeared behind the door, dressed only in a flimsy white robe. A wineglass bearing red bubbling liquid balanced on her delicate fingers. Perfect eyebrows rose, dark painted lips curved into a smile and one manicured arm beckoned her inside.

The woman had come a long way from the ambitious, power-hungry Hunter that she had pummelled one year ago. The flash in her eyes had been easily recognizable when she saw the diamonds and gems that Azula could provide in exchange for their alliance. Greed was a most predictable motive, much like vengeance. And in all her childhood spent on dangling a piece of meat to a raging komodo-rhino, she had learned how to exploit it.

In the end for humans, it was always who could pay the best price.

Jun smiled.

"You look beautiful Princess." was her greeting. But this time, the Princess noticed that there was a tilting edge on her tone, a mischievous note that immediately drove Azula on guard. She was planning something, she could tell. And smirked at the confirmation of her own thoughts. She had been inching for a fight for so long, had been dying to kill her herself. Tonight should be good. Even in her most treacherous, Jun held on to her promise.

There was a glint in her eyes that excited the fire demon. Something was off with the human today. She could not put a finger on it yet but it was there, barely concealed along the edges. She had always wondered why Jun was still alive after all these time.

She needed to distract herself anyway.

Shadows sneaked around behind the curtains and the Princess felt the warmth gather on her stomach, the sparks crackling on her fingertips, could almost taste the blood of numerous Hunters that she would feed on tonight.

Tonight would be a good night.

And so Azula came in.

...

.

The plate broke into smithereens.

Reflexively, Ty Lee knelt down to pick up the pieces, ignoring the pain each shard caused and trying to keep her hand from shaking. She was feeling something off ever since she confirmed for herself that Azula was not fooling around and indeed had left for the humanworld, a telltale lead ball in her gut, like something horrible was about to happen. Of course, she felt this everytime Jun would come over, the overwhelming feeling of distrust and the desire to be a demon right there and then herself and shoot the woman with lightning. Azula was going to see Jun tonight. As if she needed to know that to be as unhappy as the normally upbeat girl could be.

But this feeling... it was more than the urge to clench her fist and hide Azula all to herself. Something was going on aboveground. She was not sure what. But the whole universe was telling her, was giving her signs. _Azula is in danger._

 _I am sure something just came up_ , has been Mai's euphemism to each peril Azula would face everytime she was late for home. Something just came up. Something just came up. Because Azula was amazing and surely, she could just shoot up blue fire to anyone who would try crossing her.

Her hand trembled as she fished out each piece. Clang. Clang. Clang. Blood slowly startled to trickle. Azula. Azula. Azula. Danger. Dazed, Ty Lee did not even feel any pain. Something just came up. Something just came up. She knelt on the floor and tried to will her panicking heart into normalcy. Azula is awesome. And slowly her hand was drenched with her own blood now. _Azula would not drink my—_

Mai slapped her hand. And Ty Lee snapped up back to consciousness.

She dropped the small glass pieces, surprised of what she had done. Red, red, red blood freely gushed from her injury and she felt the twinge of pain shoot up to her system. Ty Lee winced.

The whole party was deathly silent.

Looking up, she felt the heavy tension in the air. The demons' posture were rigid, their faces contorted. They looked like they were trying to control themselves.

And she realized—

Mai's slapped her hands again and Ty Lee looked back timidly at the furious assassin.

She was gritting her teeth, composure broken. And her own hands were shaking violently as she barked out for a water pixie and _to get this brat away from here before all the demons in the room become... demons._

Mai's eyes scared Ty Lee.

Mai's fangs scared Ty Lee.

A kindly, old woman whisked her away.

Hoisting Ty Lee up with a surprising lack of effort, she ran at full speed towards the farthest room in the castle. The sense of foreboding was louder than the footsteps echoing all around the empty halls and for the first time, Ty Lee felt how different she really was from the rest of them.

...

.

Azula came twice as she watched Jun writhed beneath her and felt the touch of some other nameless women all around her. She fucked with one eye open, feeling the presence of several hunters under every trapdoor that Jun must have afforded. Seven, she counted while rubbing her hip against Jun's but kissing another pair of lips. She pressed sharp nails on her skin, drawing more blood than usual. The woman deserved it. She who thought that she got enough diamonds from Azula would want power from her own organization by giving her in. Power and riches. It was a win-win situation, except if she was going to lose.

She had been a mission all along.

It did not bother Azula though. Because that was how humans were. Slimy, traitorous bastards who kill each other at the smallest of spats and kindle the flames of wars on their own kind. _But Ty Lee was not like that—_

Stop.

Jun had underestimated the Fire Nation Princess.

She conjured the image of her burning and screaming in pain as she thrust her fingers inside the treacherous hunter's core. And the morbid imaginings of murder made Azula smirk through the sloppy kiss. They really were virgins, she thought with some regret. It was a shame that she would not be able to enjoy them as much as she would relish the impending blood bath.

She would make sure that in her last moments, Jun would know that this was the biggest mistake she had made in her short, human life.

She broke off from the other girl and pressed her lips forcefully on Jun's black ones. Azula's teeth grazed the lower lips, drawing more blood. Beneath her, the human yelped, struggled and shook until the demon Princess let herself be pushed away.

"What are you doing?" the human exclaimed indignantly, touching her bloody lips. The other girls, surprised by their host's reaction started to distance themselves, watching as the altercation unfolded. Jun's appearance was a grotesque painted lady. And it was clear that it was more than just a sadistic sexual whim.

The color of her eyes surprised Azula.

It was gold.

And she had fangs.

Jun had fangs.

This... was a troublesome development.

She cautiously inched away, waiting for any sudden movements. Jun now looked like any Fire Demon would, brilliant golden eyes sans the pointed ears. But there was a hostility in her gnashing teeth that was just unnatural, inhumane, demonic even. And she wondered briefly if she should investigate on any cases about humans who got bitten by Demons.

And did not die.

With her eyes, she counted four other girls. None of whom were hunters. None of whom were threats. She dismissed them in her mind.

She felt the air tense with the presence of the others in hiding. No doubt, they had their weapons at ready now. But they knew about this. They knew about Jun's transformation and they had planned to used it against her.

Azula smiled, all fangs.

Then she lunged for Jun's neck.

...

The water pixie's hand was cool against her own. A small bubble of water hovered and pulsated on each cut that she caused herself. The refreshing feeling that the permeating energy gave her made Ty Lee sigh in relief, feeling each wound close as more blood gushed out. She had her eyes fixed on the pixie's blue orbs, not wanting to see any more red that she had to.

 _Azula does not want to drink my blood._

"Here you go..." the old woman from the Water Tribe gently cooed and she slowly wrapped the injured hand in a roll of bandage, slowly ravelling it until it was fully swathed. Ty Lee had always liked the grandmotherly pixie and she smiled.

"You did not lose a lot of blood. That's good."

 _No._

Ty Lee withdrew her hand, inspecting the already congealing blood. "Thanks." She muttered. Red. There's a lot of red.

 _She probably meant "Not yet"_

She looked up at the kindly woman, smiling again in gratitude. "Can I go back to the party now?"

It had been terribly rude of her to interrupt the festivities, to break one of Cook's precious porcelains because of her frazzled nerves. Because of a certain princess not being there. She almost bit her lip till she was reminded how much Azula hated that. Ty Lee resorted with fidgeting aimlessly with her good hand.

Mai had been angry, livid. Which was saying something to the otherwise usually unaffected woman. The other Fire Demons were suddenly no one she remembered them always being, hardly recognizable in the sudden change of air. There was that expression in their faces that warred with their usual uncomfortable smiles, that exceeded their already precarious temper. Ty Lee realized that she saw that once with Azula, when she was offering her blood.

It hit her that Azula was not the only who had... needs.

"Lady Mai specifically requested for me to keep you as far away as possible." They were in an unused room just near the Dai Li quarters, she noticed. The Fire Demons were located on the other side of the palace. She tried not to think of it as what the Art of War books called "strategic position". "It is to keep you safe, Lady Ty Lee."

There was finality in her voice, an authority none of the servants ever regarded her with before. There was always respect, the reverence as though she was of a higher station than them which was utterly preposterous. Ty Lee found herself reluctantly nodding and she laid her head back down the pillows.

She wondered if the plate falling was some sort of a sign. She had once read something like it in the Book of Superstitions that Azula gave her on her eighth birthday. There were only a few things there that pertained to danger and this one, because she had always tried to watch out for it, stuck.

She dearly hoped that _something just came up._

...

.

Azula was halfway through the progressively expiring Jun when the hunters burst out of their hiding places.

The half-dead Jun collapsed as Azula nonchalantly pushed her away. She tasted sweeter than last time, she thought, running her tongue on any stain on her red lips. And it was even better because this time, she got more than just a taste.

She wiped any remnants from her face with one hand, standing in full height and not caring if these seven men saw her in her full naked glory. "About time." She muttered, sighing. The other women had long since scrambled away in fright. Azula was not worried. The weaker hunters staking out outside probably took care of them already. They had brainwashing tactics that could be on par to the Dai Li's.

Of course, the human way of living was too pathetic to put anything from even the war-shocked underworld to shame.

Seven. Must be seven from the so-called Knights of the Round Table if their distinguished-looking outfit was of any indication. But they were not the head honchos. Far from it. Just dispensable underlings. What a pity. She could tell from their apprehensive eyes that it would be easy, so damn easy it would not even take a smoke to obliterate their existence. But their engrossed eyes was something she got a kick from. It was nice to know that humans appreciated beauty.

Keeping her own conceit at bay, Azula allowed herself a moment of observation. Golden eyes took up each of the hunter's stance, their weapons and their body language. It was laughable really, how they still believed that garlic and rock salt could make a difference in a demon confrontation. Jun (Agni forsake her soul) had been a little more unconventional and a thousand times more challenging. Shifting her feet from one to another, Azula bent to her own pose, preparing to fight.

That was until...

To her surprise, a more menacing presence came up from behind her and it was thanks to her natural sensitivity to her surroundings that let her dodge the blade lunging towards her. Leaping off from her initial position, she stood in between her assailants, fingers pointed in a pointless firebending stance. But it did the trick anyway and they stayed prone. One side was filled with bumbling, inept humans. The other was slightly more troublesome.

She rolled her eyes.

"Long Feng." She greeted. And the man, with his little band of trained nonbenders behind him smiled.

"I would have appreciated if you looked more decent in your death Princess." He intoned, rubbing his hands as he stepped forward. His group of Earth Elves followed, reminding her of the sturdy pose of her own Dai Li agents. It seemed like Long Feng in his escape had been quite busy trying to emulate his once great army of Earth Benders. "But it seems like you could not be bothered. As expected of demons."

"Well, that means you can appreciate beauty before your head will roll, Long Feng." She responded, unperturbed. Slowly, she lowered her hands and settle it on her hips, flaunting more to their gazes. She smirked. "A lot of heads will roll, in fact. Though I will make sure that one of them would be yours."

"You are helpless here, Princess." Long Feng still kept his hands behind him. The appearance of clean, as if he could not be bothered to touch blood. Her blood. Azula kept herself from visibly gritting her teeth. The man who probably negotiated with humans to trap her was the most self-righteous person bastard she had ever known. "Unfortunately for you, I will win this game."

"Oh, there was a game?" she snorted before the nonbenders started to attack.

...

.

.

When she defeated the Dai Li without even bending fire in their weekly spar, Ty Lee had been excited.

"How did you do that? How did you that?" the five-year old had gushed, eyes wide and pleading. She took a towel from one of the maid's—a nonbending water pixie- proffered hands, ignoring the glass of water on the other. Azula raised her brow in askance. Ty Lee stared at her with pure adoration.

She found herself smirking. "Do what?"

"Like this!" The girl raised her hands and tried an almost impressive imitation of her cartwheels before failing down in the middle of the routine. Azula knelt beside her, releasing air around warm enough to remind her not to cry.

Her own sweat fizzled, vaporized.

"I'll have one of the servants teach you." She relented, thinking that acrobatics might be a good hobby for the human to finally stop bothering her. The vocabulary and arithmetic lessons did not do much.

Ty Lee pouted, halfway expecting this. The servants were always the one who had a hand on teaching her anything. Azula was too... busy. "Can you also teach me how to create fire?" she pushed through nevertheless.

Azula shook her head as she stood. "It is only for special people."

Ty Lee had guessed that too. Mai herself could not bend fire. Maybe it was something that special people learned themselves. "I am special too."

"Well, teach yourself how to do cartwheels and I might change my mind."

And to her surprise, Ty Lee did.

And more than that. In the next five years, Ty Lee herself could also beat the Dai Li agents without so much as bending.

"Can I be your bodyguard when I grow up?"

Mai coughed. And even eternally dazzling Joo Dee tried not to laugh. Azula had not known how to answer that.

...

.

The combined efforts of the hunters and the nonbenders still did not put even a watered-down Dai Li into shame. Azula evaded each attack, turned their own weapons against them and in a few minutes, there was blood and carnage. It was only her and Long Feng left.

She was a mystifying sight, her bare nakedness now accentuated with red everywhere. She was bathed in blood, giddy with euphoria and suddenly she felt like the femme fatale straight from human folklore. Esnaring lovers, swimming in blood and feeling like the youngest that she had been for years. Which was kind of ridiculous. Because Azula was quite young.

The former secretariat was old, pathetic and definitely was not the one destined to end Azula's life.

Long Feng finally brandished his final weapon, a long set of tubes in varying sizes connected together with a button that looked something like a trigger mechanism. It looked like something the Mechanist would come together and she knew better than to be complacent.

Long Feng himself was quite confident when he pointed it at her. Azula frowned.

 _Fire._

And something burst out of the tubes.

She would realize later that though she could not outrun a bullet, she could still choke Long Feng to death even when she was shot by something that slowly ate her insides.

And there was silence.

...

.

.

"What in Agni happened to you?"

The incredulity in Mai's outburst was enough for Azula to finally surrender into a coughing fit. Three servants immediately ran to help her into a couch, avoiding the ugly looking gash on the Princess's abdomen as much as possible. Black liquid streamed from it relentlessly and the fact that Azula had been pressing onto it too much did not help at all. She was gasping, eyes closed in a perpetual wince of pain. There was no sigh in relief when she finally rested her head on the seat.

"Just call a damn a water pixie, will you?" she commanded in between heavy breaths. The pain was unbelievable. She could not even muster the strength to glare. Around her, the servants shuffled with renewed purpose, calling for water and towels and that old woman from the Water Tribe.

"She is with Lady Ty Lee!" shouted one and Azula was too tired to think more about it.

She felt more than saw Mai's shadow standing to inspect her, surveying the damage caused by that damn object. She brought it with her in her frantic descent back to the underworld after making sure with a couple of well-timed explosions that Jun's estate burned behind her. Fire Demons was supposed to heal easily but Long Feng must have struck her with poison or something. The device was heavy, constructed in well-forged metal and she felt worse than accidentally being struck by her own lightning.

Whoever forged that against demons made an alarmingly good job.

"So, what got into you?" Mai asked and with some effort, Azula gestured towards the object that she brought home. She imagined Mai's eternally frozen face lighting up with curiosity and she flicked a glance on the device in question. She always liked it whenever something pained Azula—the sadistic bitch! She wondered why she was even friends with her.

"Looks dangerous." The assassin deadpanned. When Azula cracked open her eyes, she watched Mai pan the object around. "The Mechanist's doing?"

"What a deduction, genius." The Princess huffed, annoyed. "What do you know about that... thing?"

"It's called a gun, Princess." Her friend replied, frowning. A wave of nausea seized Azula and Mai rushed to hold her head straight. "And with silver bullets too."

"What?"

"How do you feel?" Mai sounded more curious than worried. Azula resisted the urge to hit her.

"Horrible." She grumbled, cocking her head sideways. Maybe this was the reason why Ty Lee spent most of her time upside down. She felt that she could use another perspective."So what is it really?"

"Just something to be careful with." Mai shrugged and stood as the old water pixie knelt before Azula. She gasped in horror first. Azula groaned and glared. The waterbender set to work. "Firebenders apparently are not bulletproof."

She decided that for now, information could wait.

The next few minutes were a flurry of panicked servants, a cranky, injured Princess and a verbally abused waterbender. Once the offending silver bullet was finally extracted through the pixie's water bubble, Azula allowed herself a heave of utter bliss and a question that was burning through her mind. "What happened to Ty Lee?"

Silence.

Azula looked around, irritated. But there was a sinking feeling in her gut, that made the silver bullet pale in comparison. "What? Anything I should know about?"

...

.

.

Ty Lee woke up when the door in the unused Dai Li room creaked open, the long unused hinges screaming through the quiet night. Freezing, she found herself not daring to look at the newcomer. Mai. Must be Mai. Instead, she felt a weight shift on the other side of the bed, lifting the cushions slightly until it settled with a breath.

Then a familiar voice: "Happy Birthday Ty Lee."

Stunned, the child quickly whirled around, facing the Fire Princess. In the darkness, she could not make out much but the profile of the straight-backed demon, inhaling and exhaling and the brilliant hue of her golden eyes. Ty Lee held her gaze, swimming in the gold-flecked stare. Azula looked dishevelled, tired. She did not look so hot. "Are you okay?" she inquired, letting the good hand rest on the Fire Demon's warm cheek. Azula leaned on the touch.

"Something just came up." She replied. And even in the face of their inside euphemism, Ty Lee did not feel any relief at all. "I did not bring you any gifts."

That clued her in but Ty Lee only found herself smiling, found herself trying to restrain the tears from breaking out. "You're here. Safe and sound. That's enough for me 'Zula."

She was sure that something happened. That there was more to Azula's laboured breathing than a challenging trek from the surface to the underworld. Now that her eyes had finally adjusted in the dark, she saw the telltale signs of bandages wrapped around Azula's middle, the unusual, metallic stench of a demon's blood. She spied a slight wince when she moved closer, a gasp as she wrapped her arms around Azula. "You're injured." Ty Lee pointed out, distressed. She enclosed the taller girl even further and she knew that if it was not so painful, the Princess would have shrugged.

"It's a small thing." True enough, she huffed back but thankfully, did not let go of the embrace. Azula smelled like blood and fire, like death. It terrified Ty Lee. "I heal fast."

The unspoken: Azula healed herself particularly fast with some sustenance. The human blood had provided remarkable breakthroughs in the few cases that she came back limping from the "war". Ty Lee might look daft, inattentive and stupid—things that Azula did not try to sugarcoat for her benefit—but the palace wall had ears. Any Water Pixie knew which Dai Li Elf sneezed. And Ty Lee always listened.

"You can drink my blood." There was no hesitation when she offered it for the second time. Ty Lee closed her eyes, felt her bandages rub on the sheets. Azula must have smelled them, she thought.

There was no shock either that momentarily clouded the Princess' judgement. She sounded resigned, decisive when she said. "I intend to."

Ty Lee closed her eyes and waited for the pain.

Azula's mouth quickly closed the distance and in a second, the human felt a warm tongue snaking on the crevice of her shoulder, where her pulse was already hammering in her apprehension. The sensation made her gasp, made her feel warmer all over. Azula's lips ghosted on her neck, licking it. Ty Lee waited for the teeth, the sharp fangs to sink through.

But there was none.

Azula's lips stayed fixed on her bare skin, breathing in and breathing out and Ty Lee was stunned and unmoving, confused when finally the Princess withdrew from their locked arms.

She kept her distance, eyes darting everywhere, not looking at young Ty Lee.

 _Azula does not want to drink my blood._

"Azula..."

"I can't do it." She whispered, admitted. But in her tone that belied insecurity and inadequacy, Azula oddly sounded fine with it. Like not being able to do something was an occurrence she was grateful of for the first time.

Was Ty Lee that repulsive?

"Why 'Zula?" she croaked out, bravely taking the Princess's face on both hands. Her tears escaped now, clouding her vision. "Why? Am i not good enough for you?"

The familiar dance commenced. Without ado, Azula blew steam and the tears evaporated.

There was silence between them.

Before Azula sighed, spoke. "Heatbending requires a lot of control, Ty Lee." She murmured, drawing the acrobat closer. Ty Lee could hear her pounding heartbeat, felt her soothing touch on her wounded hand. Ty Lee felt her face bury itself on her brown locks. But no fangs followed. No fangs. _Azula does not want to drink my blood._ "I guess it became a habit for everything that concerns you."

 _Azula does not want to drink my blood._

 _She probably means "not yet"._

 _No._

 _Let us not talk about this._

"You will be the death of me, Ty Lee." She heard the Princess mutter, already half-asleep and spent. Unconsciously, she snuggled closer to the acrobat and Ty Lee let her. "My weakness."

And Ty Lee wondered whether just like her, the Princess thought having each other was enough.

The Dai Li's room was cold but the thought kept her warm.

It was the best birthday gift she could ask for and she would not have it any other way.

 **(TBC)**


	5. Sunburnt

.

.

 **FIVE**

.

.

 _ **Sunburnt**_

.

.

Azula's recuperation was a most tedious affair that took weeks, tested staff patience and grew so monotonous eventually that even Mai got bored of the bedridden Princess' constant tirades about one thing or another. But on her bedside was an acrobat who decided that staying with the irritable Princess every other day was more fun than taunting the Dai Li around in handstands. She even took the dreaded task of feeding Azula, reading to Azula, talking to Azula and got a away without a scratch from the fearsomely firebreathing firebender when she also hugged her. Heck, she would have even bathed Azula if only the Princess did not adamantly keep her away from it.

"I refuse to soak with you, moron!" she had vehemently reasoned. Which was not much of one. And so the poor waterbenders were stuck with the job. In futility, Ty Lee kept on pouting in petulance.

"Firebenders are not bulletproof." Mai reiterated one night when Azula finally got enough of peaceful bed rest and decided to pester her about the subject ("It's called gun Azula. A gun.") that rendered the ferocious, invulnerable Princess an invalid for weeks. It was laughable. She missed war meetings, palace dinners and even weekly stargazing with Ty Lee but well, if you were dumb enough to be ambushed by a couple of nonbenders and hunters, one could not have everything. "It's a fancy weapon that fires projectiles several times faster than a blink of an eye. Firebenders can't outrun bullets either."

"Bullets?"

"That's what that thing that hit you was called. A bullet."

Azula mulled about it, probably cataloguing the events of Long Feng's ambush. She had been lucky at that time. The fact that she was on the run cushioned the blow that was supposed to be devastating, the "bullet" only grazing the more vital organs and settling harmlessly somewhere else. Long Feng was choked to death before she could make sense and ask questions. Azula could not outrun a bullet and her fire probably would not have helped much either.

She was not fickle without her bending but that "gun" seriously stole her daylight. Somehow, Azula must have retained some traits from her past life, tenacious as the cockroach she probably was previously. Mai snickered.

It was, by all means a very interesting development though. An army marching with that kind of weapon would be a formidable foe. Nothing that they would not be able to vanquish eventually but it was best to be careful still. The fact that it had the potential to be used in long distances did not help. Assassinations were already worrisome enough. Mai had mentioned that had there been anyone of Yuyan archer calibre in Long Feng's little armada, the Princess would have been done for.

"One shot in the head." She made a crossing gesture, mock-slitting her neck.

The Princess sat up straighter from her bed, cringing as the springs creaked under her weight. It seemed like she had to replace this soon. "You mentioned something about silver."

"It's a silver bullet." Mai informed her briskly as if that should cut it. Azula raised an eyebrow, confused. "Oh, no surprise. You would not really know how the nonbenders have been forging silver in their weapons because that effectively kills demons instantly, would you?"

"Really?" Mai was right. Azula would not know. She was trained to combat benders.

"It's a weakness." The assassin resumed with distaste, clicking her tongue. She shifted slightly from her position on the bedside stool. "The bullet that we recovered from you was silver coated. Quite the craftsmanship in fact but it does not really have the signature of the Mechanist."

"He has a signature?" Dubious.

"Well, he usually leaves some kind of a sign that it was his genius that made things possible. Oh you know, just kind of a souvenir for his conceit. I am sure you would understand."

Azula glared impatiently.

"Anyway, I am quite certain that it is not the Mechanist's doing this time." Mai resumed, shrugging her shoulders. She inspected her nails, apathetic once again. "And well if it was him, he would have a lot more to gain if he gives it to us."

"And everybody in the underworld is aware of Long Feng's incompetence." Azula pointed out helpfully, lips pursed in thought. "They would not have trusted him."

"Well, you guessed it." Mai breathed out. She raised a quizzical brow. "Any ideas?"

"He was with hunters. The Knights of the Round Table." Azula supplied, knowing this information was new to Mai. There were several hunter factions in the humanworld. Though even the most "elite" of them, the Knights of Rounds was hardly ever a threat. Creatures from the underworld rarely ever associated with humans, let alone ally with them. "You're thinking what I am thinking?"

"Uh. Indeed." Mai agreed, finally appreciating the gravity of the situation. This was getting interesting. For humans in their barbaric ways to create such a deadly weapon. Her indifference faltered for just a single moment. She briefly thought about the possible implications. Zuko had been in the human world for quite a while and Iroh, though fat and senile as Azula once derisively said, was not helpless. She wondered if they had anything to do with this. "Humans are getting dangerous."

...

.

.

Azula was on a crucial reconnaissance mission. One had to know how far the humans had gone with their guns after all. Whether only the hunters use it or even regular humans do so too was something to be investigated about. Fire Lord Ozai was insistent of this when he heard of the incident for the first time (when Azula was well enough to face his impending wrath) and he knew only Azula was the one capable to do this job.

"You are allowed to bring whoever you deem competent for your cause." He had said during the last meeting, the throne making his words sound more ominous than it should be. Azula kneeled in reverence, picking up every word. "Don't disappoint me, my heir."

Of course, she had to bring Mai with her.

She was just not sure why she decided to bring Ty Lee along too.

"Wooow!" said eleven-year old human marvelled, throwing her hands up in the air. The three of them stood atop a valley overlooking the entire city of London, the industrial age taking over the city with flourish. Smoke billowed in every building. Carriages roared past and horses whined. Well-dressed noblewomen walked around with their dogs in tow. But in Ty Lee's less observant eyes, all she could see was the unparalleled beauty of the outside world. Someone as flighty as her had been cooped up behind the walls for so long. Azula found herself smiling at her enthusiasm.

"This is where humans come from Azula!" Ty Lee prattled on excitedly, eyes wide in sheer wonder. She was jumping up and down now. "There are a lot of humans!"

Under her breath, Mai scoffed on something about her wondering why. Azula settled with the same disinterest, crossing her arms in distaste. "I'm sure it's nothing to write home about."

With a start, Ty Lee looked at her and she quickly waved that off. "I mean, of course the palace is beautiful and all. But..." She pulled Azula's hand, one arm encompassing the whole view of busy London. "Nothing beats being able to walk around in this much open space. Azula, let's go. Please."

She resisted. "We have a mission, you little—"

"Oh, about that..." Mai suddenly cut in, walking a few steps to settle beside Azula. She surveyed the town with a frozen face, arms crossed behind her. Her nose wrinkled. Her tongue clucked. Mai was the one who suggested for Ty Lee to come, something about being less suspicious to the sleuthhounds. Supposedly, there is some breed of canine that could track down any creature from the underworld."I think it would be better that the two of us separate."

"Wait? What?" Azula demanded, confused.

Mai's regard was as dispassionate as ever. "Well, I work best on my own. It should be easy. If there's something that I know about being around Ty Lee so much, it's that humans cannot keep secrets. There is always smoke to their fire, as the adage goes." The assassin casted her gaze to something over Azula's head and something mischievous flashed in her amber eyes before vanishing into blank orbs once more. "And the two of you could do whatever you want. Just keep your ears trained about uh... conspiracies, I guess."

"Since when have I allowed you to make orders?"

"It's just a suggestion." Mai deadpanned, unfazed by the Princess taking offense on the matter. Insolently, she crossed her arms. "If you don't want—"

"Come on Azula!" Ty Lee begged, summoning her best baby animal face.

Watching the stars, acrobatics, playing Pai Sho. The list went on. The list would go on if Ty Lee had anything to do with it.

"It's as good as done." Mai muttered, smirking to herself. The eleven-year old relentlessly shook Azula.

"Fine!" the Princess finally relented and Ty Lee seized her into a bear hug.

...

.

There was a skip on Ty Lee's steps that Azula did not like.

The fact that they were getting too much attention for her liking did not help her case either. Ty Lee was just so pink amidst the rather colourless city, walking energetically like a ruffian but still dressed in the expensive robes of a wealthy human child. She greeted every stranger in the street, bellowing acknowledgements at each and every turn they make. Sullen beggars looked up. The little scoundrels-on-the-making paused. And the more distinguished folk cringed. Azula winced at the glare one priest was throwing at them, suddenly feeling out of her element.

"Ty Lee—"

"Look Azula! An ostrich horse without feathers!" She yipped, eyes taking in the horse-drawn carriage that just trotted by. Instinctively, Azula took the pre-teen's elbow just before she would be run over by the traffic. But by then, the girl had already abandoned her fascination on the strange featherless animal. "And look, the sky is blue!" This seemed to dazzle her even more.

The sky in Fire Nation was always red.

She could imagine the townspeople rolling their eyes.

"This tastes good!" The apples. Ty Lee smiled at the disgruntled merchant and Azula did not even have to fish out human money to avoid an incident. The vendor graciously smiled back.

"Do you think he should be taking a bath now 'Zula?" Scrunched nose. The filthy peasant in question gave them a... dirty look.

"They have a cute way of speaking!" Which prompted derisive snorts all around. " _Americans."_ Whatever that meant.

"The human world is—"

"Sshhh." Azula hissed, finally deciding to drag the acrobat away from the pedestrians who were already starting to think she was letting a diagnosed idiot run around unsupervised. London alleyways were a maze to behold. It seemed like Ty Lee's freaking universe was all conspiring to make this trip as hard to her as possible. Where was Mai when you needed her? "Now Ty Lee—"

"Look! A big man-sized hole!"

Oh for the love of Agni—

...

.

.

A few streets away from the dangerously fuming Fire Demon Princess and her overly excitable acrobat, Mai's investigation was going quite well.

"So guns have been around for quite some time." She droned, inspecting a gun that closely resembled the gun Long Feng had used to incapacitate Azula. Actually, it was designed to kill any demon, even a prodigious firebending one. But the fact that it failed to was only testament to its wielder's incompetence. A weapon was only as strong as its user. The knife-thrower knew that better than anyone.

 _Shotgun,_ it was called. She raised the barrel up and pointed it towards the proprietor who apparently was selling an arsenal of these things in plain sight. With some grim satisfaction, she observed that the old man was about to pee his pants.

"Young lady—"

Mai put the shotgun down, much to the man's audible relief.

"Who else are using it?" she asked, trying not to sound threatening.

"Why, every wealthy men in the city uses it. Mostly for hunting." The man still sounded intimidated, hands in tremors as he hurriedly picked the gun up from Mai's reach. This apparently gave more self-assurance to him. Mai resisted the urge to twirl her knives around just for kicks. "A revolver sometimes is mostly enough."

So guns were really that commonplace? Hmm. "Do you sell silver bullets?"

This time, it seemed like she had just validated a conclusion that was running in the man's mind. A frown graced his wizened features, regarding her with doubt. His eyes squinted suspiciously. "This is not an occult store, young lady."

"Huh?" Mai allowed her brows to furrow in bewilderment. She discovered while questioning a couple of bystanders that humans preferred to interact with someone whose face moved or else they would be on their guard and clam up. "Do they sell silver bullets?"

"They probably can supply you some garlic to kill those vampires." What in the world vampires were, Mai did not have an ounce of an idea. She detected sarcasm in his tone but Mai was too confused to react with an equally witty repartee."Now young lady, I would appreciate it if you leave..."

...

.

.

Once Ty Lee got tired of asking about everything they had the misfortune on setting eyes on (which because Ty Lee still prided a sharp vision, virtually everything), she decided to ask some random guy if there was anywhere they could have fun in.

"Oh, we have the circus this week."

So this was why Azula was getting dragged this time by the excessively boisterous pink bundle of energy (how Azula missed the two-year old who at least could not pull her weight around) as she went on a mile a minute about the things they could do in a "circus", whatever that is. The odd word was enunciated with so much drama because: "I don't know what that is but it sounds fun! Come on Azula! Let's go."

"This is the best date ever!" Ty Lee exclaimed, after asking yet another unsuspecting stranger (this time, a well-dressed man who was just walking his dog. He seemed taken aback by Ty Lee's lack of propriety. Azula wondered whether if it was the time to apologize. Even peasants in the humanworld demanded courtesy like royalty. The nerve! Mai did warn them about getting too much attention) about directions to their Mecca. "I mean, this is our only date. But this is the best first date ever! Why didn't you tell me that the humanworld is this cool, 'Zula?"

"You called this a date." Azula said, frowning at the young girl and wondering where the hell did she learn that word. Was one of her Dai Li agents getting chummy with some water pixie? She needed to dig more about that. Ty Lee only nodded happily, undeterred by the princess' gradually worsening mood. "Do you even have an idea what that means?"

"An outdoor excursion with a loved one." She recited proudly, facing the Demon earnestly. Don't look at her face. Don't look at her face. Don't look at her face. "And I love you so much 'Zula."

Azula sighed. Figured she would sneak that punchline in. It was the norm. Never would Azula get through a day without the eleven-year old human professing her undying love for the Princess. Mai would snort incredulously every single time."She would grow up." The knife thrower had said later. "So don't worry. She definitely would realize how horrible you are."

Mai's words had made Azula realize that Ty Lee was probably the only person who did not fear her. She could tell that even Mai did, to some degree under that dispassionate bravado. But Ty Lee touched her even when it burned, showered her flowers even when they withered in her presence.

She was not sure how to feel about that.

The circus was an even busier place than the noisy bustle of London marketplace, the strangest of humans strutting to and fro in haste as though they were on a deadline. There were barks of various orders. And dramatic ways of signalling obedience. Ty Lee's open fascination came back in full force as she watched a woman contort and tangle herself on a mat, feet on head, upside down and interchanging in between curled and knotted positions with remarkable speed and lack of effort. When she blinked, the woman almost looked like Ty Lee. But the little wrinkles on her noseline were noticed a second later. It always disgusted Azula how only half a century could make humans uglier than shrivelled up elves.

"Azula!" Ty Lee breathed, open-mouthed and aghast. She had apparently paused in shock from her bouncing. The brown-haired woman looked up, grinned at her new audience and did another complicated-looking pose again. Which received a gleeful applause from her ward. "She can do it too!"

The performer apparently appreciated the admiring tone in the outburst because, in a flash, she was standing in front of them—a full head taller than the eleven-year old human and her one-hundred-something guardian, smiling at Ty Lee. "You can do it too, little girl?" she asked, her voice gentle. The way she held herself seemed like a dance and she could almost imagine a background gong punctuating every step. Azula found it nauseous.

Ty Lee nodded zealously. "Yes!" She began to display her own routines, much to Azula's growing horror. "And a lot more too."

"Well, it seems like you would do well here in the circus." The woman remarked, craning her head approvingly. Ty Lee paused on a one-finger handstand. "I can train you."

Ty Lee sat up with flourish. How in hell did she learn that from just watching her? "Really?"

"Ty Lee, come on." Azula admonished, pulling on the girl's reluctant shoulders. Ty Lee obstinately, did not budge.

"It's good pay." The older acrobat ventured, crossing her arms. Her eyes were trained on Azula's fuming glare, condescending. In one swift movement, she had clasped Ty Lee's hands. "We make good money here in the circus, little girl."

The Princess slapped her hand away.

"I don't care." Azula responded icily. Who does this woman take them for?

But Ty Lee's attention was now affixed somewhere else. "Look Azula! He can breathe fire too!"

There was a hiss, a burst and true enough, red tendrils of flame sprout from a buffy, bearded man's mouth. It was far from impressive, the firebreathing barely lasting a few seconds and definitely not as destructive as what she or her Imperial guards could do. Heck, even those in the Fire Nation Academy for Imps do better. But the sight momentarily transfixed Azula, wondering how that could be possible.

Could humans firebend too?

After all, everything starts in baby steps, like the Sun Warriors once used two kinds of stone in order to conjure fire. Humans crossed countries by sea now. Would they able to use airships in a hundred years as well? After all one century ago, they certainly did not have those guns. Their swift advancement was a matter of concern. The Fire Nation could not afford for anyone else in the underworld to be able to milk something off from these people, if they proved to be as productive as Azula was starting to think they were.

Firebenders are not bulletproof.

"Oh..."

Some seconds later, the man consumed something from a small jug and did it again. The fire was bigger, brighter but after seeing that, it was clear to Azula that it was just a silly parlor trick.

But there was no relief.

That only meant that humans could improvise.

"Seems like your little friend here is not the only one who has talents, young lady." The woman said, cocking an eyebrow and offering the same smile to the disgruntled demon. Azula remembered Ty Lee's slip. Oh gee, could this get any better? Sarcasm. "The offer stands you know. Great money."

"Azula could do better." Ty Lee... scoffed. She was glaring in disdain at the fire trickster, apparently bored and disapproving of his little cheat. He spurted fire once again. Azula wondered how anyone found that mind-numbing exercise entertaining to watch. Ty Lee who found good in everything, certainly did not. "I mean—"

"Ty Lee. Just shut up."

The human coughed but bashfully kept mum nevertheless.

"I can give you a tour, if you want." The damn woman was relentless, circling around the both of them. Her eyes were fixed on Ty Lee though and there was something bubbling in the surface in that stare. Azula could tell something was up with this woman, the woman who looked so much like the child beside her. She just could not... "You can watch my daughters. They are acrobats too. Flexible and boneless since they were little. They are about the same age as you. Eleven. They'd be so glad to meet you."

Ty Lee beamed and looked pleadingly at Azula.

The demon frowned in suspicion. This woman... It could not be. What are the chances... She did not find out much about Ty Lee's heritage but she knew enough about an Earth Elf to know their shady activities...

There was a soft, nostalgic expression that crossed the woman's face as she held Ty Lee's gaze. She put her hands on the young girl's shoulders and completely ignored Azula. She touched the tip of the child's braid. "And they look just like you too."

...

.

Mai winced as the bells on the door clanged and rang and visibly cringed the moment all the rest of the bells in the dingy, rundown shack of an occult store began ringing as well. Humans were unbelievably noisy creatures. And dirty. Instantly as she surveyed the area, Mai knew she hated the place more than she hated the rest of the humanworld.

Asking where this place was located earned more dirty looks than she expected so Mai deduced that the proprietor must be some kind of a social pariah to be cast out of the norm, like the cabbage merchant back in her undercover days in the Earth Kingdom. After being kicked out by the gun dealer and glared at by peasants, she set onto finding the "witch", whoever that may be who supposedly could help her procure silver bullets. She was passed to the most unsavoury of people, from a bumbling old man to a downright crazy old lady. Tracking down the witch was easy enough but Mai would rather not do it again.

Mai would have thought that she was at least moving a step forward if only the old guy from the gun store did not sound like he was mocking her. For sure, this eccentric (or maybe she was even crazier than the fishmongering woman) witch would be connected with the top secret Hunter Society, the equivalent of their Mechanist for the White Lotus if what she heard from the man was true. She just did not expect that this store would be something in public domain, seeing that everything supernatural in the humanworld should be handled with absolute reticence. For decades, the Hunters had kept the knowledge to themselves. It was not out of humanitarian tendencies such as preventing panic. They just wanted the diamonds they manage to steal from time to time to themselves. Jun was a perfect epitome of human greed and she died for it. Diamonds were every human girl's bestfriend. Mai thought they were just a bunch of glorified rocks. Greed. Jun.

And well, lust too. She probably enjoyed being fucked by the demon Princess, considered by many to be the most beautiful descendant of the royal family in centuries. Mai rolled her eyes. Demons were gullible too.

The Hunters were not much of a threat themselves, inadequate thugs that could not even ruffle an ostrich-horse's feathers. But the fact that the Resistance was beginning to ally themselves to the humans was where the head honchos' concern stemmed from. Humans were just a persistent speck of dirt that happened to be great bloodbanks. But they were effective as slaves as well and if there was this evidence that they were manufacturing weapons for the Rebels, it would change the tides of the ongoing war.

The Fire Nation had not reached its equilibrium yet.

Because as much as Mai hated everything and sometimes hated power-crazed Azula, she would still like to have a roof over their heads in the increasingly few times that the two of them fuck, thank you very much.

Spider webs crisscrossed all around the low-ceiling, further accentuating the sinister effect that the severed skulls, shrivelled bones and hanging garlic were giving off. Seriously. No matter how pungent, there was no way a string of garlic would kill any self-respecting demon. Each step Mai took creaked eerily, strong stench of mildew seizing her senses. Old lady smell. Her lips curled, her nose scrunched. But she took another step.

 _Creeeaaaak._

Humans. Their weirdness was endless.

A sharp blur emerged from the colourless surroundings and immediately Mai was on guard.

"Save it, demon." A voice hissed and the following moments were something Mai would be forever uncertain of. The next thing she knew, she was lying prostrate on the ground, unable to move her limbs.

An ancient woman stared down at her, golden eyes flickering. "Now, what is your business here?"

And Mai was struck startled by the force of recognition. Impossible. "You—"

...

.

.

When she saw six other copies of herself spinning around, Ty Lee's world stopped.

 _You are special._ Azula had once told her when she asked why she was different among the rest of them. Her ears rounded, her fingers pudgy. The fact that she wore four layers of clothing during winter when all the others breathe smoke. You are special, Azula had reiterated everytime that Ty Lee agonized over her eccentric appearance, had prayed that her strangeness was only a phase. That soon she could breathe fire and grow as beautiful as Azula someday. That soon she would match with the rest of them and grow pointed ears. You are special, Azula had said whenever she repeated this ambition. She had chuckled, shaken her head, told her that she was one of a kind.

"You should be grateful of that." Azula had added, back when the demon still allowed the human to sit on her lap. Ty Lee had absorbed every few words that the Princess would say, because it was hers and hers alone. "Being different is one more step to being great."

When she discovered that she belonged to a totally different species called humans, Ty Lee started to doubt it though. "So what is special about being human?" She was dubious, upset. Because if what made humans stand out to Azula was because she drank their blood, Ty Lee was unsure whether she wanted to accept that just yet. She wanted to believe that Azula saw her for her. Not just because she had rounded ears.

Silver-tongued Azula had chuckled. Beautiful Azula had shaken her head. Mind-reader Azula knew what to say. "You're Ty Lee. That counts."

She was unsure what that meant. "For what?"

The Princess had sighed. And take note that Ty Lee was too impressed in the throngs of naiveté to realize patronization when she heard one. Or exasperation. Azula said what people wanted to hear to have them revolve around her palm. "You are unique. I met a lot of humans. None of them could cartwheel like you do."

In retrospect as she stared at six girls who looked exactly like her and could do _better_ cartwheels, Ty Lee wondered whether she even heard Azula right. Or perhaps it was hearsay or wishful thinking or an outright lie. She wondered if what she took for the truth was really what Azula had said. Whether the earnest compliments were really veiled, exasperated reproaches. Whether the small smiles that she saw when upside down were really scowls. Ty Lee only heard what she wanted to hear after all. Ty Lee only saw what she wanted to.

But the sight before her, these six sisters that looked exactly like her. This was something she did not, never wanted to see.

But even the long flow of brown hair that was not braided like hers, the slightly wider eyes and the perfect mask of professional smiles that contrasted to her own aghast gape, the glaring fact was indisputable.

She belonged to a matched set of seven.

Or she was supposed to.

She was not sure why she did not ask herself before, in all her studies of reproduction and parentage. Perhaps, she did not care. Perhaps, she was satisfied by the care that the demons had unconditionally provided her. Perhaps, Azula had been enough. For what are questions but an expression of discontent? For years, Ty Lee had been satisfied. Ty Lee had always had whatever she wanted. Ty Lee never asked.

She did not know how. She did not know why she knew but standing there in a London circus with a woman who looked at her oddly and an equally disconcerted demon Princess, Ty Lee knew then that they were her sisters.

They were her real family.

And she was not so unique after all.

"Ty Lee!" Azula's voice sounded far away. Running steps behind her. Ty Lee did not realize until she saw the sun and the very blue skies that her feet had moved on their own.

She just wanted to get away.

...

.

.

Azula caught up to her easily but by then, Ty Lee had enough tim **e** to decide that the human world was indeed nothing to write home about.

She glared darkly towards the smog-filled city, the filthy peasants struggling amongst the uncaring, gray crowd. She noticed the stench, an indistinguishable unpleasant mixture of manure and decay. Back in the underworld, there was an impeccable order implemented, each nook and cranny accounted for in meticulous reports and undertaking. The humanworld was much more unpredictable in its mess. An elderly fell down. Nobody helped. Sounds of heated quarrel came from one of the establishments. A well-dressed man cursed in vehemence when Azula bumped to him on her way and the Princess did not even flinch.

Azula took it into stride, just rolled her eyes. Ty Lee realized that in the humanworld, Azula was as much of a nobody as she found herself being.

Ty Lee decided that she hated the humanworld after all.

She would have grabbed the man's hands, scolded him of his impertinence because did he not know who he was speaking with? This was Princess Azula, conqueror of the underworld. This was Princess Azula, who could burn cities with her stare. This was Princess Azula, the person who made Ty Lee feel special.

This was Azula who took care of her when the humans probably did not notice that she was gone.

She hated how the human world had taken all that away.

And Azula was the voice and touch of reason because before she could do anything to damn herself, her hand was seized and she found herself being pulled away from the abominable flurry of people. The nameless nobleman slinked away and Ty Lee watched the humanworld, along with long lost sisters and mothers she could not care about fade amongst the anonymity of such a featureless place. "Let us go home."

Ty Lee sighed in relief.

...

.

Mai told them of her findings, going over each detail with blatant apathy as they descended on the chute towards the underworld. They rode what Ty Lee identified as a gondola, going down through the depths of the underworld in a blink of an eye. She remembered the story about a rabbit falling down the rabbit hole, about a hatter who invited her into tea. Perhaps she was like Alice. Perhaps, Azula is like the nice Mad Hatter.

Perhaps she was that girl who never woke up from a dream.

Perhaps she never wanted to.

"So these..." Azula seemed to think about the word, forehead creased. "...uh, guns. They have been around for quite some time?"

Ty Lee deduced that they were talking about that something that harmed Azula the last time that she was in the human world. Another reason to despise the existence of such a horrible place of nameless, faceless blokes besides the fact that suddenly, in all its novelty, Ty Lee felt awkward in. They hurt Azula. Ty Lee was nobody in their world. A part of a matched set. No, she was more than that.

She was Princess Azula's human ward.

She could defeat Dai Li agents. She knew of the Underworld's history from the First Sozin's Comet to the Second. She had met pixies, elves and slept on a demon's bed. The Princess gave her gifts for her birthday. The most powerful bodyguard treated her like a friend. She was Lady Ty Lee, Azula's favourite. And she was more than just a human.

"Uh-huh. Apparently, every respectable human carries it around."

Frown. Azula shifted from her seat. "Should we be worried about armies of these peasants soon?"

"I did not find out much about the silver bullets." Mai said shortly and Ty Lee was stuck with the momentarily feeling that she was withholding something before it dissolved into her usual mask of indifference. She knew a lot about Mai. She knew that she was ticklish around the feet and nowhere else. She knew when she was keeping secrets. "What about you, guys?"

But there must be a reason if she was doing that. Mai was Azula's most trusted bodyguard, her protector. She was probably doing it to protect her. Azula once said that we can protect people through lies or something like some battles could be won through elaborate deception. But whatever Mai was keeping, it was probably best not to butt in.

She would have told her other best friend about their recent discovery. That there was more than just the cold facts of an elf failing to deliver Ty Lee to whoever she was supposed to go. That somehow, she was a part of a larger name that she did not know before. That her parents were still alive and they did not seem to be missing her.

Or the fact that Ty Lee did not care either.

But she caught Azula's eye and Ty Lee understood that her life as a human was as unknown to her as a forgotten past life. "Nothing important." Azula shrugged off and Ty Lee echoed her pronouncement as honestly as she could. "Humans are still as horrible as ever."

 **(TBC)**

 **.**

 **.**

 **The "American" comment is not intended for offense. It is just that in my very limited experience with Victorian literature (which would be Holmes and Alice as I said), there seems to be discrimination to American tourists (or immigrants) and their take on the culture at the time. There should be a history lesson somewhere that I could bring up but I am too lazy to think as of the moment. Asian history is enough for my long term memory. What the townspeople remarked about would be the American accent which would be the way the ATLA characters speak in this fic. Nothing else. If this bothers you though, feel free to tell me.**


	6. Nightmare

**SIX**

 **.**

 **.**

 _ **Nightmare**_

 **.**

 **.**

Azula urgently shook her awake.

Ty Lee snapped her eyes open.

"You have to leave!" The Princess hissed, seizing Ty Lee's arms. The acrobat rubbed her eyes in reflex, brows scrunched in confusion as Azula hurriedly dragged her off the bed. The swirling lights around Azula are an erratic shade of red, the sign of danger. Not that Ty Lee ever saw it that way before. "We have to get you out of here, Ty Lee."

There was no question asked, no petulant protest to be insisted. Ty Lee obediently let herself be pulled out outside the palace doors where a Dai Li elf and Mai was waiting, expressions not betraying anything. Strapped around a komodo-dragon were stirrups big enough for three people, fashioned comfortably enough that it reminded Ty Lee of the carriage that they rode the last time they ventured up the surface, a few months ago. Mai was fully dressed in her robes, everykind of throwing knives doubtlessly hidden in every pocket and the Dai Li elf himself seemed to be ready for action, standing in his customary pose. That one was Azula's favourite, the only one who was allowed to speak.

Azula pushed Ty Lee towards the two, her tone severely commanding. This kind of speech was something that Ty Lee had never heard from her Princess before and here she thought that Azula demanding her cherries to be rid of pits was quite scary enough. "Get her way from here as far as possible."

Mai took Ty Lee's arm, sighed. "And the farthest possible place..." She paused, as if trying to make an impact. She cocked her head sideways. "... the human world, isn't it?"

And the brief seconds that Ty Lee waited with bated breath for Azula's answer that she finally shook off her grogginess to cast her eyes on the unusually armored Princess. There was something off with Azula's aura, how tense and rigid her shoulders were, how more demanding her usual barks of authority were. There was something in Azula's eyes that Ty Lee had not seen before and for the first time, the human was uncertain whether she wanted to acknowledge it for what it was. _Azula..._

 _Azula was never afraid of anything._

It did not help that this was the first time that Ty Lee had seen Azula in her full Phoenix battle armour, the very image that defined her moniker all across the Underworld.

 _The Monster of the West._

"I do not care!" the fire demon hurriedly stated, waving her hands in dismissal. Ty Lee tried in vain to catch her eyes but Azula was too focused on getting rid of her. "Just get her away from here."

Mai took her arm, more forcefully this time. The Dai Li flanked her other side. Together, they did not let Ty Lee look back as they dragged her towards the saddle. And the komodo dragon roared into action .

No one told Ty Lee what was going on.

...

.

.

"Fire Lord Ozai is visiting."

The Stonehenge portal was as expected, deserted of any human activity, the sinister pile of stones that had been there before any civilization settled keeping the most curious of spectators away. In one secluded corner of the ancient monoliths stood Mai and a fidgeting Ty Lee, behind what looked like a shimmering force field. Ty Lee decided not to dare herself to look beyond it.

The Dai Li had stayed on the other side, as per Mai's orders. The assassin on the other hand explained that she herself would not be able to accompany Ty Lee in the human world as her absence was something that Ozai would certainly notice.

While Ty Lee's presence was something that Azula's ever mysterious father would certainly disapprove of.

The acrobat knew about Fire Lord Ozai, the unseen, faceless but omnipresent figure in all their lives. His authority was so undoubted that even Azula went into his every whim, dropping everything in exchange of pleasing her father. He was the ruler of the Fire Demons, so feared that blasphemy was never heard even in the thickest of walls in the Princess's palace. Ty Lee never met the man herself, never saw hair nor hide of his in all her years living with Azula. She never asked to. She was not sure if she would want to see the man Azula was afraid of the most.

"So..." she risked, unsure of whether it was now her cue to start asking questions. She liked Mai and her brutal honesty, the fact that she chose not to hide anything because it required too much effort. "... he does not know that 'Zu—Azula is keeping me—a human—the entire time?"

"Well, it's the palace's biggest secret for years." Mai replied airily as though the fact that they were on the run from the most dangerous man in the underworld was of small consequence. Even worse, she shook her head as if it all amused her. "And apparently Azula would like to keep that longer."

Eleven-year old Ty Lee bit her lip, closed her eyes. "A secret makes a woman, woman." She paraphrased, thinking of the manipulative Fire Princess and her tendency to embezzle her answers with double-entendres and half-truths. Ty Lee never said so but she noticed, she noticed how Azula had begun to protect herself with deception.

And it killed the human how she did not even know how to help.

"You take care little girl. I would not really worry much but there is some danger in ignorance. Fake it till you make it, I guess." Mai handed her a bag of coins ("You won't get what you want unless you have these."), a change from her pajamas ("Because humans still have not developed a nice fashion sense. I mean, those dresses. Ugh.") and bid her goodbye (I'll go now. The air is making me nauseous."). She leapt through the void and vanished, consumed by darkness in a blink of an eye. The sun slowly rose. Birds started to sing. The human world wakes.

And for the first time in all her life, Ty Lee felt alone.

...

.

.

It was not difficult to retrace the steps that they took to come to the metropolis and consumed by worry and trepidation, she came to the towncentre without her noticing. At the peak of sunrise, the humans were up and about, bustling around doing their businesses. For the past few years, Azula has brought her a few books from the human world. Gifts, she insisted. Ty Lee lovingly called them lessons. Most of them, she only had skimmed through. But one had effectively caught her attention, mostly because it got cute sketches of weird animals that made imagining them easier. In the human world, turtleducks are just ducks and turtles, two entirely different creatures that were probably not even friends. Ty Lee felt like Alice going in an unknown world, with no Azula to hold on to.

But it was not curiosity that kept her on walking towards the busy town but the fact that Azula expected her to be there. The marvel of being in the world that she originally was from had run dry ever since she saw copies of herself doing the same thing that she did, a mother who did not mention a lost daughter when she introduced the six that she still had and heard about the danger that Azula mentioned. In the safety of her chambers, Azula had confided that they only had theories about where she came from. Nothing concrete. Earth Elves were notorious about stealing human babies just as demons were feared for drinking their blood. "Every race has their own dirty laundry." Azula, in a bout of uncharacteristic patience told her. "Humans for one, do everything that we all shirk from doing. They kill each other, which demons never do. They steal. And a bunch of other things. It's like they are the combination of all our faults. Really, I hate them."

'But I am human too!" Ty Lee remembered protesting, voice high-pitched, eager to contribute something to the conversation. Azula relished speaking with intelligent people, she had found out. "Do you hate me?"

"You grew up with demons, Ty Lee." Azula had said with a roll of her brilliant, golden eyes. 'Sometimes, I even forget that you are not one of us."

Truthfully, Ty Lee was not looking forward on coming back to this Agni-forsaken place.

Mai did not give her any clue on when she will pick her up. For all Ty Lee knew, Fire Lord Ozai might be staying for the whole week or might even stay there for good! The thought terrified Ty Lee and she shivered. No, she encouraged herself with a determined headshake. Azula would definitely come for her. She was just not any human. She was no longer one of those filthy creatures. She was one of them, no different than anyone in the palace that lived with each other with startling unity and Azula, in her own way… cared for her. Ty Lee was her soft spot, her favourite.

Ty Lee felt herself blush. Must be the sun. She rubbed her forehead. Yes, it was warmer here.

There was no mystical, well-dressed White Rabbit that would guide her to any particular direction and so for the rest of the day, the younger human wandered aimlessly around the city, taking note with a sharp, jaded eye how inferior these imbeciles were compared to the regal, good-mannered demons. Even the silent, stealthy Dai Li elves that Ty Lee tried to avoid at all costs were more preferable than the bouncing cockiness that was the human law enforcement. Their slaves in the palace certainly looked less emaciated than the obviously impoverished class that begged in the streets. The food they pegged around looked awful. No sugarcakes. No fruitcakes. Ty Lee tossed coins to the less fortunate to pass the time and to her disgust, the greasy humans flocked to her like she was some kind of a deity.

Azula was right. They really were quite pathetic.

Her feet eventually led her to the same clearing that the colourful circus stood the last time that they went up the surface. The tents of all sizes that she had once been amazed at was not in the park anymore, replaced only by overgrown grass that was obviously not tended for a while (the gardens was always so, so immaculate). Wild flowers snaked around the metal posts. The lone bench on the one side was rotting with rust. She forced the disappointment back in her gut, clenching her fists. She told herself that it was good riddance. She was not looking forward on seeing any of her duplicates anyway.

Azula thought (insisted) it was coincidence. Ty Lee knew better for perhaps the first time than the Princess. That contorting lady and her six clowns was what would have been her family.

Briefly, she wondered how things would had she not been taken away from them and decided that no amount of being able to perform before audiences would match the chance of being able to live with the most amazing race in the world and meeting the most beautiful, smartest perfect girl from that species.

She crunched her nose, stepped away from the place and Ty Lee forced herself to be repulsed by the thought of almost being a human too.

…

.

.

She did not stay long enough in the human world last time for her to witness the moon rise as the sun went down. Night bit the city of London. Crickets chirped. Stores closed. And the humans came running in full speed back to closed doors. Ty Lee wondered if they really were this afraid of the dark. Gas lights blared. And the smog started to filter in the dark streets. It was quiet when the windows were shut and all the children were tucked in. The acrobat felt even more alone, more miserable.

Fire Demons rose with the sun, burning with ferocity particularly on high noon. But even in the darkest of nights, the palace was still alive and about, the energy of the servants unparalleled as they made sure that the ground their Princess would walk in the following morning was polished and varnished. But the city of London became as dead as a doornail as soon as the moon graced its presence up in the skies. Stars blinked. The clouds floated. Ty Lee thought that the purple colors of the gleaming starry sky was the most beautiful thing she had seen so far and momentarily thought the humans to be ungrateful to choose to not respect and behold such beauty.

Things as this was luxury in the Fire Nation. The skies were only clear enough for stargazing a few times each year. In most of them, Azula was not even around.

Ty Lee wished that she had the Princess with her.

A shrill scream broke the silence.

...

Azula knelt prostrate before Fire Lord Ozai, head bowed in absolute deference and murmuring various adoration that as Azula got older and wiser felt empty and overly patronizing in her lips. "I am honoured with your presence." She bit through, glad that Father could not see her face. Ozai could always read her. Ozai could always surprise her.

The burning throne reserved for any audience with the Fire Lord had been unused for some time. Twelve years, Azula counts, recalling that it was only a couple of days before the winter solstice since Father Lord made a visit to their old palace. Proclaiming himself the Phoenix King had given Azula the authority to her childhood home, the absolute command over the Capital while any other concern would be forwarded to her father's much more exquisite castle in Ba Sing Se. As usual, even through her more considerable feats and accomplishment, it was Azula who was left feeding from her father's scraps.

But it would be a truthful admission to note that she relished the freedom, the liberty from her father's scrutinizing gold eyes more than she despised her obvious subordination to his reign. She tried not to think of a certain human that her father never knew of, tried not to imagine the vicious words to be reserved for her weakness because he disapproved. In her waking imaginings, she tried to block what would be the most likely scenario. Ozai was every bit as ruthless and twice as bloodthirsty as his daughter. He would not hesitate. _Weak._ She felt weak. Ty Lee made her feel weak.

His gaze was more than a heavy stare, more than a stern regard of an overbearing parent. It was the judging regard of a ruler to a soldier. Suddenly, Azula felt like an imp again, pitted together against a less talented brother, raised to be the perfect offspring she grew up to be even though she secretly wanted her mother's affection more than her father's approval.

There was the overwhelming sense of guilt, the feeling that dug in her soul at her omission. She thought of Ty Lee, safer now in the human world for the moment while her father stayed in his old room in the palace. Azula had many a time wondered why she had to go through such lengths just to protect her ward because surely she was nothing more than a plaything she enjoyed twisting over the years.

 _You can drink my blood._

 _No._

 _Not yet._

Ozai spoke, his voice the familiar baritone of expectations and conditional love. "I assume, you have a couple of things to say about your mission in the surface two weeks ago."

As per decorum, Azula raised her head to reply. "Yes, Father." The speech was practiced, condensed to summarize Mai's findings so far. The other demon was probably hiding something else but Azula was sure she would find out in no time. Humans were but an inconsequential factor in their current aim to defend their position as the most powerful race in the Underworld. What concerned her more is... "As a matter of fact..."

...

.

Why Ty Lee was gripped by an instinct to run in full speed towards the source, she would forever ask herself. Maybe it was curiosity, a tactile reflex that kicked faster than rational thought when confronted with a baffling question. Maybe it was boredom, like Mai would do whatever it took to well, have something to do. Maybe it was the thrill of the unknown and she felt herself smirk the same way as Azula would. Just a few hours and she missed them already.

The sight that greeted her made her forget so.

It was a sense of déjà vu that possessed her into freezing.

This happened before, she thought. Several years ago. The day of the red moon. When she found out she was a weaker specie called human. Fangs. Flashing gold eyes. But this time, there were no pointed ears or the epiphany of this... this bloodsucking monster being Azula. Long ago, she had accepted that Azula needed blood like she needed water. But seeing it unfold for the second time made the memory more horrifying. Ty Lee was flooded with the little things she decided to forget when she saw Azula—the hunger in her eyes, the emptiness in the woman's eyes, the terrifying spectacle of death. The man before her was no demon—she knew enough to identify one. But fangs, golden eyes and the infernal hiss. The rapidly expiring woman in his arms, the pungent stench of murder.

It was a human. The snarling creature was a human without a doubt.

But those fangs... those golden eyes... the blood dripping from his gnashing mouth...

Like Mai's. Like Azula's.

Their eyes met. Gray to the familiar gold. He was human, Ty Lee confirmed once again, as she took a step backward. Rounded ears. The same limbs as hers instead of sharp talons. The man was a human. Or he used to be.

He pounced with unearthly speed, with demonic speed.

Running was futile and so the last thing that the acrobat remembered was a flash of green, a fan and the courage of a painted face and then there was darkness.

 _Azula..._

 _..._

 _._

The sight that Ty Lee woke to was a large burning flame, orange sparks crackling and flickering. Shadows surrounded it like moths, the buzz of conversation an incessant humming. For a single moment, Ty Lee wondered if she was taken back down the Underworld somehow, the Fire Nation with the more familiar demons and safe within Azula's supervision. But the sky was still the purple, starry splotch that was never seen back in the palace. And the face that immediately popped up in front of her was definitely not one of the water pixies.

A pallid face, eyelids painted red and an elaborate hairpiece holding short, auburn hair. And more importantly, the rounded ears. The woman was unlike any humans she had ever seen—for they seem to be less colourful and more drab than this person. But there was the same look that the perceptive Ty Lee easily identified as worry on the woman's face. And the acrobat wondered how could such a groomed, made-up face could exude such expression when Mai's plain one stayed detached and frozen.

"Are you okay?" The voice of a girl came out of the woman's red lips—almost as red as the lipstick Azula insisted wearing- and Ty Lee realized that the girl was only a little older than her.

Ty Lee sprang up. "Where am I?" she asked and upon finding her voice, all the events came back to her. The golden-eyed man. The human who looked like a demon. The dying woman. The blood. The certainty that she would meet her death right there, in the filthy human world where the human-demon would feed on her blood when Azula refused to.

"You were almost attacked by a ghoul." The woman… girl said, reaching out to touch before Ty Lee shrugged it off, eyes wide. The girl sighed.

"A ghoul?" Ty Lee asked, frantic. She had never heard anything of the sort. Because surely a creature of such power and… needs could only hail from the Underworld. She remembered the speed of which the man leaped towards her, a fantastical agility as he disregarded the dead woman and moved to another prey. The golden eyes. In her books, humans always had the more generic brown, black or the occasional blue and they certainly did not possess fangs. But she never heard of anything called ghoul. The long dead Air Nomads had been sprites. Earth Kingdom citizens were elves. Water tribesmen were pixies. Fire Nationals were demons.

Ty Lee knew her history.

So it was with distrust that she openly eyed the now awkwardly fidgeting painted lady. She was wearing a garish green, a colour that made Ty Lee's eyes hurt but that was not all that sent the acrobat on edge. For sheathed around the young girl's waist was obviously a sharp blade. A katana, she remembered hearing Mai mention. This one had a gold-crusted handle, engraved with characters that Ty Lee could not read.

The girl must have caught her questioning gaze because she spoke again. Every second spent with her made her sound younger. She looked too small to be handling such a weapon, too juvenile to be wearing such eccentric clothes. "Let me start with introducing who we are. I am Suki. And I am a member of the Kyoushi Warriors."

"As in Avatar Kyoushi?"

Ty Lee slapped her hand to her mouth.

She was not supposed to know that.

A crease appeared above Suki's red brows, crumpling further to produce a suspicious frown. Warily, she stared at Ty Lee. "Why would you know that?"

"Er—" How much would the humans know about the humanworld? Mai had warned her on the way to the portal that it would be best not to inform anyone that she came from a demon palace. _Because they would think you lost it. We cannot come back for you if you are locked up somewhere._ So that must mean that the humans had no idea about the existence of their kind which to Ty Lee, made them even more of an ignoramus. But this Suki apparently knew Kyoushi, that legendary elf who could bend four elements.

She even tried her best to look like her, come to think of it. The books painted Kyoushi to be that woman with big feet and a pair of fans. Azula once said it was probably to make the Firebending stronger or something. Mai quipped something about a horrible fashion sense but then, it had been several thousand years ago.

"I've read about it." She relented into saying, wanting to slap herself for her bumbling. This was the very reason why she avoided human interaction in the first place. She knew she would reveal her hide sooner or later. Azula had always detested this ineptitude.

Suki's looks of suspicion did not go away. "Avatar Kyoushi was not exactly a publicized legend."

Which took the cake. Ty Lee had virtually no idea what were "publicized legends" in the human world or what would be acceptable enough to not be "locked down", as Mai vaguely warned. Humans were a sensitive race, she had learned in the full day of observing those who unfortunately shared her ancestry. More prone to lose their tempers than Fire Demons, more stubborn than the stone-faced (she chuckled inwardly at the pun. Azula would like that one) Dai Li and even more of crybabies than the Water Pixies. And that was all she had gathered from watching a cabbage merchant argue with his poor wife.

But she still did not know much and it was evident that humans did not consider it common for the knowledge of an Avatar to be openly discussed. Weren't Avatars used to be viewed as deities before the Fire Nation snuffed out the ridiculous belief? Humans were always slow to follow and Azula did not think they were worth conquering so that must mean, humans still worship Avatars right? The last one… was yes, Roku, himself a Fire Demon. He was killed by Azula's great grandfather, Sozin which tempered the reality that even Avatars were nothing to the greatness of the Fire Nation.

Or so Azula had said.

In any case, Ty Lee decided to take a leap of faith. "My uh… mother told me…" She quickly thought of that day with Mai and Azula in the gondola. The exasperated roll in Azula's golden eyes. "She is… was a hunter."

Ty Lee seemed to have landed just right because Suki's face softened considerably and she excitedly exclaimed. That was a shot in the dark. Perhaps, she was becoming to be as good as Mai, "We're hunters too!"

"Oh…"

"My mother is the leader of the Kyoushi Warriors now. We kill ghouls like the one who… which… tried to attack you earlier. Anyway, you're okay, right? No injury?" She checked on Ty Lee's arms and the acrobat drew back with an uncomfortable wince. Suki, oddly enough just took it to stride. "So which faction does your mother belong to?" Then Suki paused, as if regretting what she said. "You said 'was'. Of course. Is she…. Is she?"

"No!" Ty Lee felt overwhelmed. "Uh… I mean, yes. It's been a long time." She tried to recall anything in Mai and Azula's conversation that could help her. "My mother… uh.. she belongs to the Knights of Rounds."

"Ah. Knights of the Round Table?" Suki did not bother to hide her surprise. "They are the ones who hunt those demons who venture up the humanworld to feed on humans."

"Uh… I guess…" That was new to Ty Lee.

Suki prattled on, her words coming out as an excited gush. "I heard they were hunting down the Princess too but failed."

 _Princess,_ was all Ty Lee heard in her mounting apprehension. It was too late to stop herself. "Azula?" she burst out, shaking.

"Must be." Then Suki frowned, less wary than the previous one to Ty Lee's relief. "You seem to really know a lot. You must be what? Nine?"

"Eleven." Ty Lee murmured. This made her recall how much she absolutely abhorred lying. "My mother…"

"Oh, she was training you, wasn't she?"

Mai was right. Humans… were so presumptuous. "Ah… yes…"

"A lot of hunters died during the winter solstice." Suki said, eyebrows raised thoughtfully. "I am sorry for bringing it up…" Ty Lee could tell that the so-called Kyoushi Warrior was trying to sound sad. She was not succeeding. "I mean, is your mom one of them?"

The winter solstice. Right. Her birthday.

The night Azula came home wounded.

Suki did not seem to take offense through her silence. "They were hunting the demon princess that time, I think. I heard she is strong. Real strong."

There was no admiration in her tone.

There was just disdain, hatred at the talk of the Princess' undeniable power.

"She is…" Ty Lee whispered, afraid that her voice will crack. These hunters… these humans were responsible for the Princess's pain that night.

And yet…

She remembered the dying woman, the "ghoul".

"What are ghouls?"

And it was with horror that Ty Lee would find out.

...

.

.

"This girl…" Suki said as she opened the metal door to the sight of a snarling, gnashing creature bound in chains. The Kyoushi headquarters, as the older girl called it was but a huge campsite where other similarly dressed girls haggled all around in a bustle of frenetic energy. The green-clad, painted humans all had cordially greeted her, asking perfunctory questions about her welfare. Ty Lee had responded in kind but with less enthusiasm than when she talked to the demons. Suki had led her to a nondescript concrete structure that vaguely resembled the gardener's outhouse—that nice old elf, except that even from the distance, screams of anguish could be heard. One of which, came from the famished-looking, emaciated golden-eyed, fanged creature. "…is a ghoul."

 _Half demon. Half human._

 _Anyone who survived being bitten._

"I think I saw a ghoul once." Ty Lee murmured as Suki finally shut the door. Three bolts. Clang. Clang. Clang. Screams. The acrobat resisted the urge to cover her ears. This place was beyond creepy. She thought of June, the bite marks littered around her neck that never quite healed. But she looked far from the raving animal behind the holding cell and she did not have golden eyes. "But she does not look like that. Not at all."

"Really?" Suki sounded surprised. And interested. "Where did you see her?"

"Uh… She's my mother's friend." At this point, Ty Lee was at loss for words. She hated lying. "Like you know, in the Hunters Guild. Ha-ha."

The other girl's forehead creased again. The sight of the suspicious pale face was becoming alarmingly familiar. "Ah. I see. Well, we have heard of the rumours. I guess they were really true."

"What?" What rumours?

"That The Knights are using ghouls against demons. Your mom's friends must be one of the domesticated ones."

Ty Lee wanted to vomit.

"Ghouls looked relatively normal when they've fed enough." Suki continued and finally the pair was out in the open. The campfire was visible. The singing voices could be heard. "You could almost mistake your next door neighbour to be one. Their only telling lead is when they start to get all murderous. It makes our job harder to be honest. Demons are easier to hunt."

"Do you hunt demons?" Ty Lee was horrified of the implications. Her new… friend?... could be trying to kill Azula.

"No. They are much harder to kill. The Knights do though. You are training to become one, right?"

"Uh-"

"Well, if you want you can join us. I am sure my mother would love to have you."

"I mean—"

"Well, what's your name?" Suki pursued, blissfully oblivious of the other girl's impulse to run.

"Ty Lee." She replied and the acrobat started to tremble about one thing.

 _She is getting attached._

 **(TBC)**

 **.**

 **Victorian London being quiet at night was a thing during the time when Jack The Ripper was at large. I thought that I would use that as the plotpoint to introduce the ghouls, whose existence will greatly affect Ty Lee and Azula's relationship and build up the stage for the game I have planned for Act Two.**

 **The hunters in this story have several "factions". The Knights (which is vaguely based around the Freemasons) as said hunt demons. Kyoushi, a watered-down version hunt ghouls. There are some others who hunt elf and pixie defectors whenever they do those bad things (like stealing baby Ty Lee) we see in ancient horror stories but they are irrelevant as of the moment.**

 **I hope you are enjoying the world so far (I understand that it might be quite risky). Do tell me what you think of this chapter and drop a review if you are a supernatural nut and have a suggestion. Thanks for reading and see you next time.**


	7. Sleuthhounds

**SEVEN**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Sleuthhounds**

 **.**

.

"What do you mean she is not there?"

The dangerous flash in Azula's eyes is as clear as day as she whirled around with a startled jerk, her painted lips curled into the beginning of a snarl. She looked worse for wear, her shoulders slumped and her once neatly-combed hair in disarray. In his wake, Ozai left his daughter as exhausted as though she just attended several rigorous war meetings. He was after all the external personification of the pressure placed on her shoulders, the heavy weight she singlehandedly had to bear. The sight before her made it easy for Mai to remember why they all dreaded the arrival of the Fire Lord, why she preferred loyalty to the Princess any day.

In the Crown Princess Palace, nobody called him The Phoenix King. It was a self-proclaimed title, one that Azula's subjects, her real subjects which only consisted of her personal servants and her Dai Li agents tacitly agreed that he did not deserve. If Azula noticed, she did nothing to dissuade them of this blatant disrespect. But there had been relative serenity in the past twelve years, the only semblance of peace in the war that had lasted for a thousand years. The Princess' injury and Fire Lord Ozai's audience in the home that he had left two decades ago for the fancier palace in his colony (which Azula herself conquered) were what shook their foundations and the composure of their enigmatic ruler and the world she had created.

"She was not there." Mai repeated and crossed her arms. She let a frown grace her features, unsurprised about how natural it felt these days. Azula was not the only one, it seemed. She had to take care of that. "I assumed she would be there waiting for us for the next morning. I told her so."

"Really, Mai. You and I both know about Ty Lee's attention span."

"Or lack thereof." The assassin rolled her eyes. It was a familiar dance, the sentiment shared. Mai would like to think it did not sound like they were doting on the little pink troublemaker. Ugh. Gross.

"Indeed." The princess purred, eyebrows delicately raised. "I wouldn't be surprised if she was playing some sort of hide and seek game with us. But it has been two days." This was said in the same silky, haughty tone that Mai was accustomed to. But there was a pause of breath there, a slight nuance that let the perceptive knife-thrower detect hints of worry. Worry. Azula. Hmmm. "Wouldn't you think she would be sulking around the portal right now waiting for you to come fetch her?"

"Perhaps she made some friends." Mai would not put that past Ty Lee. The human could make even the uptight Lo and Li joke about going to the beach.

For some reason, this evidently made Azula uneasy. A scowl crunched on her haggard features. The bags under her eyes seemed darker "Or enemies." She feebly suggested, still seething. Fists were clenched. Lips were being bitten. Azula looked like she was pondering on a possibility she would rather not acknowledge. This time, Mai cocked an eyebrow in curiosity.

Something is up...

"You are withholding something from me, Azula." Finally, Mai voiced her thoughts, watching as the fearsome Fire Demon internally plan on the torture and demise of some unfortunate soul. "Whatever happened last time in the surface?"

"I can say the same thing to you." Sharp golden glare. Mai sighed. So Azula noticed. Of course, she did. "You found something in the human world too, didn't you?"

"I was wondering when you would ask." Is her nonchalant response.

"You did not tell me." Already a full day after her father set back for the Earth Kingdom, Azula remained cranky, irritable and with a temper that was more volatile than that of Zuko's. Tendrils of smoke were coming out of her slightly red nostrils, her eyes an indecipherable swirl of growing ire and impatience. This was one of the infrequent moments that Mai would gladly admit she missed Ty Lee, the only one that could actually turn the Firebender's deathly flames into harmless steam.

Ty Lee was the type who could annoy someone enough to calm them down.

Mai shrugged. "I thought it was something that you would prefer not to know."

Azula glared harder at her. "I'll be the judge of that." She spat accusingly.

It seemed then that indeed there was no escape from sparing her. Mai exhaled, braced herself. "Fine, we can trade secrets." She fixed her eyes on Azula, watching as the younger demon defiantly stared back. She gave the Princess one more chance. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"I'm waiting."

"I saw your mother."

Azula's breath seemed to have been taken away as a gasp was not even heard from the wide-eyed Fire Demon. For once, she was frozen in her seat, rapidly heating fingers breaking off a chunk of the wooden armrest. Mai could not get a good enough read on Azula's expression, for like anything that took the demon aback, Azula processed it differently than most others. While Mai preferred to take things through carefully schooled indifference, Azula took everything either in offence, anger or ego. Pain, especially pain converted the Princess to an agitated mess of fire. Ty Lee once said that Azula's aura was that constant comparable to Mai's eternal gray. Why the human was so fascinated with those colours, she would never know.

 _Purple._

 _I want to see the flash of red in her more often._

There might have been shock. There might be the longing of a motherless child. There might be the question arose about a woman thought to have vanished from the face of the underworld for more than fifty years. Azula was barely an imp when the then Princess Ursa was banished, just shortly after she started playing with Mai. But the bodyguard would never really know the extent of what the Princess really felt for her own mother for all that prevailed at the moment was blinding anger and several decades of bottled up resentment.

Well, she internally shrugged. The opposite of love is not hate. It is apathy. Had Azula been more detached and stoic over the news of her mother, Mai would have believed the inevitable lie that she did not care. Azula was the most predictable thing after Zuko. It was just so, so boring.

Her knowledge of Azula's severe abandonment issues was what helped Mai dodge the swat of fire that was aimlessly released from the Princess' swinging arms. in a second faster than the hot trail of blue, Mai jumped off her own seat, took off several yards away from the fuming Princess as the girl all but reacted everything igniting in all directions. Mai was not very concerned about the room catching fire. Everything in Azula's chambers was ensured to be fireproof.

"I thought so." Mai drawled as Azula finally found her calm and collected persona again. But even this reaction was quite extreme than what she expected. Oh fine, perhaps Azula was not really that predictable after all. Frazzled nerves? The company of Ozai must be rather stressful. No wonder Ukano looked older than his four hundred years and Azula was having those wrinkles when she was not even two hundred yet. Ew. Just ew.

The Fire Demon only glared at her in reply, brows knitted together. Mai only sighed, making sure she did not looked as miffed as Azula intended. "I don't know why you are surprised. It has been a long time since she has been sighted here. It only makes sense that—"

"I'm not surprised."

"Angry then?"

"I—" And the Princess who was known to be a woman of words with a smartly tactful tongue that was never short of a witty repartee, trailed off.

"You don't know." Mai observed, effectively masking her satisfaction. Azula's head snapped in annoyance. "You do not know how to feel about the knowledge. You do not know how to feel about your mother being finally in your reach."

"I don't care about her." And there was the answer Mai knew all this time that she would give.

"Tell that to yourself Azula." Mai pointed out, in the most detached tone that she could manage. Azula's fists opened and closed, her teeth gnashing. But this time, the two demons let the silence fill the increasing aggression between them, knowing that evading the issue for now would be the best action for both of them. Several seconds later and Azula's breathing evened out. Mai thought it was high time to proceed. "Well, what else would you want to know?"

"I'm hoping she is suffering."

Mai did not even have to try to suppress her scoff. Of course. She expected that. There was no love lost. "She certainly is not living in a palace."

Azula only looked at her with eyes that threatened incineration and Mai was implored to elaborate. No, she did not fear Azula but she was wearing a favourite dress today, thank you very much. "And well, she was ostracized in the human world, if that is what you want to hear." The run-down shack ran through Mai's mind. The weathered face of a once beautiful woman whose only remaining brilliance lurked behind her golden eyes. "She is what they call a witch, a social pariah. If it makes you any happier, she is probably not having enough meals a day."

Mai did not know what to make of Azula's expression. But there was an unfamiliar glint in her one-hundred-yard stare that only Ty Lee would have made sense of. Ugh. Whatever. Briefly, she wondered whether how Ursa would have felt if she knew her only daughter thought of her this way, whether she blamed herself for how the child she failed to raise has turned out.

"Did you speak with her?" Azula asked, significantly more subdued by the idea of her mother starving. Mai resisted the urge to point out that for all they knew, Ursa might be enjoying the human flesh more than those silly morsel the humans called food. She did not really know Ursa well but since she gave birth to the two of the most problematic imps in history, she must have harboured some issues too, Azula's fingers steepled and legs now crossed. "Did she recognize you?"

"She turned me away. I don't think she knew who I am. It was a long time ago since we have had playdates. Ugh. Don't remind me. And she was rather... delirious."

Azula smirked. "Delirious?"

"Uh-uh." Mai made a show of inspecting her nails.

Azula's smirk widened. "Any chance you saw Zuzu?"

This took Mai by surprise. She jerked her head up. "What makes you think I did?" To her disappointment, her uneasiness was apparent in her outburst.

Azula drew a soundless chuckle. Headshake. "I don't know." She crooned, flicking her hair. "Mother and son both in the humanworld. I would think instinct would kick in. Mother always have a sharp nose for our kind after all. She was not great in many things but she was a pretty good tracker."

"I did not see him." Mai did not mean to sound stern or coldly dismissive. Although she would have willingly done so had it been any other topic. Zuko was always a sore subject for the both of them. Azula knew that. The banished prince has not been seen for twenty years. Betrothals could not stand that long without any form of communication.

"But you want to." Mai did not let herself be fooled by the teasing tone. Azula was not that kind of a friend.

"That's none of your business."

This somehow left Azula in higher spirits. "If you say so." She leaned back to the seat, touched her lips on her folded fingers, closed her eyes.

Mai sighed, prompted. "So about Ty Lee..."

Eyes still closed, Azula craned her neck backwards."We have reason to think that we saw her family aboveground."

"Really?" Mai did not expect that. For the twelve years that Ty Lee stayed with them, the most that they knew about what happened was one of the darker elves bringing her down to the underworld. Perhaps even one of the Dai Li. It was their dirty laundry. Like how demons drank blood and pixies seduced young men. How she conveniently ended up in the palace front gates was still a mystery. Mai remembered that for the first two years, Azula had been convinced it was some elaborate plan to usurp her.

There were a couple of elves who lived in the Capital, the smarter ones who sided up with the winning side. Azula had the Dai Li discretely question everyone, even that old nobleman who was the human's inspiration for the mischievous elf who thought his name was impossible to pronounce. But so far, there was nothing. Not that Ty Lee was terribly interested anyway. Azula just hated loose ends.

"Hmm..." was her noncommittal acquiescence. She briefly wondered how Ty Lee's real human family looked like but she did not really want to ask.

"Well, what do you think?" Azula prodded. Mai hated that smirk.

"You sound curious." The absentminded remark did not go past Mai. Azula's head gears were whirring in thought.

"Well, she has not been seen for two days." She noted, restraining a frown from breaking her inscrutable countenance.

Azula opened her eyes, as though she just remembered. "I do not think she is with them though. She hates them. She has six other sisters who looks exactly like her and you know Ty Lee."

Indeed, the human seek too much attention to be willingly part of a matched set. Mai figured that the reason why she only knew this was because Azula knew her cards too well. She was luring her to reveal about what she was hiding. But it did not matter now. Azula could wallow over her maternal angst for all she could care.

"So what do you think happened to her then?" Mai knew she was concerned. If she was anyone else, she would have easily admitted that she was worried. But in an environment where all her actions were being observed as grounds for manipulation, it was better to keep her distance, to pretend that Ty Lee's absence made the servants more bland and unattractive than usual.

"What precautions did you take?"

"I assigned a Dai Li on the portal to escort her if she appears." She waited for Azula to reprimand her that it was not enough.

But the Princess only stood up and there was a familiar flash of mischief in her eyes. "Then we shall go."

...

.

.

It was the moment that she emerged to the bright sun that Azula was finally certain that Ty Lee was safe. Of course, she did not have any doubts. Ty Lee could hold her own against any menace spawned by the rigors of this Agni-forsaken place. But there was still that nagging worry that ate on her until she herself could sniff on the smoggy fumes of London, set her eyes on the ugly city that she did not look forward on coming back to. Ty Lee's unique scent wafted weakly in the air and she finally permitted herself a deep sigh of relief, basked on the smell of her human that she was deprived of for days after Father's visit.

Mai squinted amidst the sunny glare. She did not look too happy. "Did you know that humans think demons are nocturnal creatures?" And that they were the cause for all the misery in the world. That even a human deciding to go crazy and murder his own brother was attributed to one of their kind whispering in their ears. As if any demon would waste their time like that! In answer, Azula only scoffed. Humans were so presumptuous! Mai proceeded. "Apparently, I am starting to believe them. I hate the sun aboveground."

"The only thing I hate about this place is that I cannot firebend." She took a few steps, cautiously looking beyond the rock formations. For the life of her, Azula could not remember which race actually opened the gates towards London. The Fire Demons always preferred the Imperial City of Japan. Even Azula herself would take a well-mannered geisha over any sex worker from the East End. But in the shady European city filled with crime and poverty, she had less worries over being recognized. "Otherwise, I would have liked to burn it to the ground myself."

"Good choice." Mai commented from behind her. She looked grumpier than usual. "Firebenders are not bulletproof."

Azula clucked her tongue, rolling her eyes. They would figure out a way around it soon enough. "Anyway, we should keep going."

"Please tell me you have an idea where to start."

"I can smell her." Azula revelled on Mai's startled expression. It was only per occasion that anyone would managed to surprise the jaded demon. Unimpressed was her default. "Don't even pretend that you are not impressed, Mai."

"Whatever." Warily, Mai took note of how elevated Azula seemed today. The small, conniving smile on her face was bad news. She narrowed her eyes towards the Princess, quizzically biting her lip. "That just means you are more like your mother than you would like to think."

Azula gave her a smouldering look.

Mai was... unimpressed. "You need to go somewhere else?"

"Why, I need to check on Mother of course."

...

.

.

Ty Lee could not help but feel a sense of familiarity with the woman before her.

She was what Suki called a witch, a sorceress, a magician that usually helped the Kyoushi Warriors locate and defeat any ghoul that was hiding around the city. "We are also trying to figure out how to turn them back." Suki plowed on as Ty Lee watched, riveted solely on the robed, older woman currently talking with who her new friend had introduced to her as her mother, the leader of the Kyoushi Warriors. Her features were plain, nondescript with black hair billowing around a small, round-shaped, whimsical-looking facial expression. She looks as ordinary as she could get. "But so far, Noriko still has no idea how."

"Noriko?" she echoed listlessly, eyes still fixed on the black-garbed woman. Ty Lee had no idea what felt so strong that she could not take her eyes off her. But there was just something, just something that set her nerves on edges with her presence. It was not at all like the intimidation she felt when she saw June. But the longer that she looked at the woman, the stronger her sense of Azula became.

"She has strong senses and she can smell both demons and ghouls alike. Can you believe it? She can smell them!" The older girl explained. "I don't know how she does that or why the Knights do not have her on employ—they certainly could pay her more. But well, we have no right to complain, do we?" Suki was a welcome change to the drab and silence that Ty Lee was normally used to. Back in the palace, she was the voice amidst Mai's sullenness and the rest of the staff's tight-lipped attitude, the only sound reverberating around the dark, candlelit halls and stealthy footfalls. So talkative was this human girl that despite everything, Ty Lee could not help but think of Suki as a kindred spirit.

And she was enthusiastic, so driven in what she did best. It reminded her of the determination in Azula's eyes everytime she talked about her conquest of Ba Sing Se and her dreams of conquering the Northern Water Tribe. In her short stay with the Warriors, Ty Lee learned more about hunters and ghouls and the pretty movements they do with the fans. "Treat it as an extension of your arm." She had said. Suki talked a lot about courage and honor, the strength that you would gain if you wanted to protect something. Ty Lee thought that the humans might not be so bad after all.

Because she wanted to be strong enough to be able to protect Azula too.

"Come on." And her arm was seized. Suki started to drag her towards the two women. "Let us introduce you to them."

Ty Lee firmly planted her feet on the grassy ground, skidding both girls to a stop. Suki looked back at her in askance. "I can't." She did not remember agreeing on "training" with the Kyoushi Warriors though, did not remember promising to hunt ghouls.

Azula may have been waiting for her already.

Mai said she expected that she would just be around Stonehenge before sunrise. When she would come back would depend on whenever Fire Lord Ozai would leave. Ty Lee was unsure how many days had it been since then.

"I have to go home."

"Oh," Unlike the inscrutable Fire Demons, Suki did not even try to hide her disappointment. Ty Lee almost felt sorry for her. In the few hours that she sat with the other warriors around the campfire—most of which looked older than Azula—she could sympathize on how alienated she must feel, how isolated. The young in the world of adults. Recruiting Ty Lee must have given her the false hope of having someone else in a way of life that still regarded her as a child. Suki told her she was thirteen. Mai said once that they only went to fight in the war when they were ninety. Ty Lee could not really tell if she was joking. "I mean, you said your mother was.. you know... during the winter solstice. I just thought..."

Humans... they were really presumptuous. When in the past this disgusted her, Ty Lee could not help but smile fondly. Because come to think of it, she was no different. Ty Lee felt bad about lying but she did not really have a choice. So she decided to give Suki a sliver of the truth. "Someone is waiting for me."

"Oh."

Ty Lee smiled. "I can't let her down."

Suki bowed her head as though hiding her face from the younger girl. But it was futility in itself. Ty Lee gently put her hands on the young warrior's shoulders, squeezing it. "It's okay though. I am sure we would see each other again."

The green-garbed youngster beamed. "The offer still stands." She chirped and much to Ty Lee's discomfort, gave her a quick, bonecrushing hug. Human flesh was cold. Suki released her and Ty Lee thought that her smile was really pretty. Suki was really pretty. "You can join us."

"Thanks." Ty Lee did not really know what to say.

"Mom still wants to meet you anyway!" Suki exclaimed and she pulled Ty Lee forward once more.

...

.

.

Suki could tell that there was something wrong as soon as she and Ty Lee got closer.

Mother's face was grim, her expression taciturn. But otherwise, the Leader of the Kyoushi Warriors did not betray anything through her silent regard to the other woman. In front of her, Noriko looked more colourless than usual. Suki always thought the woman as odd, more eccentric than any witch she had heard of. But then again she was the real deal. Unlike most of the other quacks who claimed garlic was an effective way to kill those rampaging bloodsuckers, Noriko herself could end even the hungriest ghoul's suffering.

With bare hands.

"So where are you planning to go then?" Mother asked. Noriko shifted her weight from one foot to another.

"Anywhere away from here." was her vague answer. And this was when Suki noticed the small satchel tied around her shoulder, the travelling cloak and three layers of clothes underneath. "They're coming."

Noriko and her garbled murmurs, the unfocused eyes. There were instances that Suki wondered what exactly happened for this woman to be so out of it. Mother said she was damaged, so broken. She used the term 'traumatized'. And yet in those featureless brown eyes, there lurked the intelligence of someone who lived a century, of someone who knew what was hidden behind the lies of their dwellings. Suki did not believe Noriko to be insane. Just unstable. Definitely unstable.

"Noriko's leaving?" the young girl broke in. Beside her, she felt the unease radiating off Ty Lee as her eyes darted from Noriko to something on the ground. Suki thought her blameless. Mother was frowning at her.

"Suki—"

"You're leaving?" she addressed Noriko this time, ignoring her mother's reprimanding stare.

"They're coming." Noriko repeated, still distracted. But this time, she was as seemingly interested in Ty Lee as the other girl was with her. Suki looked between them back and forth, contorting her face in confusion.

"Who's coming?"

"Who do you have with you, Suki?" Mother interrupted, eyes trained on her new friend. Oh how impolite! Suki grabbed Ty Lee's arm as she muttered profuse apologies. The girl squeaked and blushing, bowed reverently towards the leader of the Kyoushi Warriors.

"This is Ty Lee. Ty Lee, my mother. And this is Noriko. Noriko, Ty Lee."

"Uh... Pleasure to meet you." Ty Lee stayed for several seconds in the position before rising and smiling shyly. Suki thought that the girl was really cute. Really cute.

"Peace and beauty." Noriko murmured.

"What?" Suki had her eyes squint in bewilderment. There went Noriko and her nonsense again.

She did not respond.

Ty Lee looked uncomfortable.

"Hey, it's okay." She whispered in reassurance. Ty Lee did not seem to be consoled at all. "Noriko is just kind of weird."

But even that was an understatement.

...

.

.

The burnt husk of the hovel stood before them. Mai held back a gasp. What came out was a soundless gape that she quickly willed away to scrutinize Azula's reaction. She seemed as taken aback as she was. The Princess' body went rigid.

Before the overly emotional demon could do something that would condemn them both, Mai commented. "I hope this means that you got ahead of me for some reason and started Project Burning London to the ground."

"And bring you here to gloat? That would have been fun." Azula walked closer to the charred remains of the once poor excuse for an abode. She visibly winced at every step. She sniffed in the air. "Except that i am as baffled as you are."

"It's not a mystery." Mai responded, crossing her arms. "It's pretty clear to me what happened. She knew we were coming and she made a run for it. You really must be mother and daughter."

Azula did not like that comment. There was a dangerous edge in her glare. Mai stayed unperturbed. "I thought she did not recognize you?" she demanded.

"Oh well, I'm sorry but how would I know?" She dismissed with a wave of the hand. "Can't you track her down?"

"I don't think it's worth the effort."

Mai sighed. She knew what that meant. Ursa must have covered her tracks well enough that Azula would rather not try than risk failing. That's Azula to you.

"Let's just go get Ty Lee."

...

.

.

"Peace and Beauty." Noriko was openly glaring at her now.

 _Ty Lee._ From an old Fire Nation dialect that Azula says only a handful know about. Even in her several calligraphy classes over the years, Ty Lee has not encountered the dialect where her name came from.

And yet this woman knew instantly what her name meant.

"Yeah." Ty Lee awkwardly said, her forehead creased.

"Huh?" Suki was as confused as ever.

"You should run away." Noriko was addressing Ty Lee and for a second, Suki was surprised that the woman could speak beyond the incoherence that she was attributed with, "Run away while you still can."

"Run away?" Suki echoed. Ty Lee seemed too stunned to respond.

"They're coming." Was all she said. Then Noriko walked away.

,,,,

,

"About June." Mai began. They were in the marketplace, humans going back and forth. Everything was a blur of activity. It would have been quite familiar if everything else were not so pungent. "Did you find anything more about what happened to her?"

"Hm." Azula's ramrod back was turned towards Mai. She just shrugged. "That one is really strange, hm?"

"We usually do not leave the humans alive." The bodyguard noted in agreement. In daylight, human beings did not seem too tasty. Brown-faced, overworked creatures. But then, they were in an unsavoury part of town. Azula said there were better-dressed ones somewhere west, where she got assaulted.

"Well, you are right about that."

"You mentioned that June looked like a demon..."

"At our worst." Azula confirmed, gracefully stepping away from pitiably crawling one-legged man. Deplorable. Mai's face crumpled. "I have had the sages look it over because surely June may not be the first one. You remember the demon who fell in love with a human?"

"I remember. Not the names. It is a horrible legend." It was a banned tale too for it spoke of the omnipotent power of spirits and the Avatar. The myth itself did not live to its hype. And here Mai thought that anything they were not allowed to read would be interesting.

"Well, apparently it is based on a true story, as clichéd as it sounds." Azula turned right. Mai followed. "But instead of the Lion Turtle turning the human into a demon too so they can live happily ever after, the guy bit her."

"Oh..." Mai was beginning to understand. Though she was not aware that the mythology they were taught in Literature classes was actually history. "There is a way to turn humans into demons?"

"No. They don't become demons. Far from it."

"Hm?"

There was a flash of mirth in Azula's eyes that made Mai's heart involuntarily beat faster. "They don't drink blood. They eat human flesh." She clarified, smiling. "We make monsters."

...

Suki's grip was so hard Ty Lee was sure her circulation would be cut off. Mai was her usual impassive self. And Azula... Azula looked interested.

Suki had insisted to take her to where she and her "guardians" were supposed to meet up. They would be waiting for her, she told the much too energetic hunter. And they are probably very worried too, she had added for good measure. Just in case Suki knew the pouty lip of doom (as Azula called it) and use it against her. Talk about a taste of your own medicine. But Suki just begged for her to act like a nice friend and let her be escorted. The game plan was to ditch her somewhere and make a run towards Stonehenge. Imagine her surprise when she saw Azula and Mai with rounded ears and _peasant_ clothes, walking towards the direction of the _headquarters,_ as Suki grandly dubbed that grassy clearing.

"Is this your new friend Ty Lee?" The look in Azula's eyes made Ty Lee uneasy. She was smirking, tongue peeking out between the gap of her puckered lips. Her fingers fidgeted sensually and she leaned closer towards the two shorter humans. Distantly, Ty Lee thought of June and her palace visits. She did not know why.

She would learn much later that the word for it was predatory.

Suki's grip tightened.

"Yes." Ty Lee finally managed, giving her best grin. "Her name is Suki. This is..."

"You can call me Asami." It did not sound like an interruption, just a charming takeover done by a good conversationalist. Azula looked gracious, accommodating, every bit of the people person she kept saying she was. But Suki was clearly uncomfortable. Ty Lee was starting to be too, for some reason. "And my rather taciturn companion here is called Ai."

"Ha-ha. _Asami._ " Mai crossed her arms.

"I am Japanese too." Suki seemed glad about the common ground and her eyes were wide with unconcealed wonder. Ty Lee sighed in relief. "Ai. That's a nice name, just like mine. It means 'love' too."

"Mine stands for 'sorrow'." Mai cut in and Suki visibly deflated.

Ty Lee giggled.

Humans and demons could get along too after all!

Maybe they could visit Suki from time to time too, she thought. They just have to avoid the ghouls and keep up whatever makeup Azula and Mai are using to wear those human ears.

"I must apologize for my friend's behaviour." Azula purred, running elegant, dainty _human_ fingers in her side bangs. "And I must thank you for taking care of Ty Lee. We have been rather busy and you know how little kids are these days."

"You're a kid too." It was almost accusing. Suki was frowning.

"And Ty Lee is a baby." Azula countered easily, rolling her eyes.

"What are you guys to her anyway?" Suki questioned, looking between Ty Lee and the two older girls who were too well-dressed for an East End alley. They looked out-of-place in this vagrant surrounds. Ty Lee felt out of place. "Whatever it is too, you might want to know that Ty Lee almost ran into trouble."

 _Asami_ glanced at Ty Lee, golden eyes curious.

"I'm okay." The eleven-year old squeaked, raising both palms. "I'm okay. I promise."

"We're cousins." Azula said in response, cocking her head sideways. "I am responsible for her."

"Are you hunters too?"

Uh-oh. There was a heat emanating around her that made Ty Lee certain that Azula's intent glare was aiming to vaporize her.

"Why do you say that?" One eye was trained on Ty Lee.

"Because I am a hunter too. And Ty Lee said her mother was too!"

"You are not supposed to tell anyone that." The tone was appropriately reprimanding, remonstrant. Azula had her eyebrows raised, one eye on Ty Lee.

"Sorry."

"No. It's not her fault! Please don't scold her! She was attacked by a ghoul and we saved her. It's okay, right? We can trade secrets because we have the same goals anyway."

"A ghoul?" Mai looked perplexed.

"We have him in custody." Suki affirmed, nodding stiffly.

Azula was thinking. She looks alert. "You are a hunter?"

"Yeah." The girl puffed her chest in pride. "I am a member of Kyoushi Warriors—"

Suki did not get to finish her sentence.

But Azula continued her own with Suki's crumpled, unconscious form in her arms. "Now, what in Agni's name is a ghoul?"

 **(TBC)**

 **Rumpelstiltskin reference, Japanese namealogy and major plot move. Hope you like it. Because** _my favourite prisoner..._

 **Thanks for the reviews. You guys are all very kind.**


	8. Heartbeat

**Eight**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Heartbeat**

 **.**

.

Suki's heartbeat is a dull thrum of percussion, her pulse a soft, almost unrecognizable echo. But it is there and Ty Lee who until then had been frozen in shock at the swiftly unfolding events, breathed a hasty sigh of relief.

"They will look for her." Mai began, her voice strained. Arms crossed. Perfectly shaped eyebrows raised. The gondola goes slower and from the open windows, Ty Lee can see the lights of Caldera already, a stark mass of yellow against the dark red sky. Azula had her back leaning against the wall, eyes closed, fingers drumming. Her full lips are set into a thin line. Ty Lee sat with the still unconscious Suki. Free and bound. Safe and in danger. Both humans in the company of the now undisguised demons. And yet so different. And yet so vastly set from each other.

Suki was nice. Suki had been great. Suki had saved her life. Suki was Ty Lee's friend. Why did Azula...?

Why did Azula...?

Why would Azula...?

Why?

"What are we afraid of, Mai? They can go ahead and implicate us. It sends the message." Azula shifted, shrugged as she mustered her retort. She cocked her head towards the huddled humans and for some reason, Ty Lee found herself gripped by a crippling note of apprehension. "For a kid, this hunter knows a lot."

"They only kill ghouls Azula." Ty Lee finally found her voice in the growing discomfort of Mai and Azula's silent exchange but even then, it came out as a timid squeak. She forced herself up, even though her legs felt like jelly. Numb. Trembling. She flexed her fingers, her heart pounding. Did Azula hear it? Her fear? Could she? "I mean... Suki. Why do you have to-"

"Are you questioning my actions, Ty Lee?"

"No, but—"

" _Are you questioning my actions, Ty Lee?"_

And Ty Lee's knees buckled, her composure slipping as she reluctantly whispered. She sank down back to the floor, folding her knees. "No."

That tone.

She never heard that from Azula before.

There was something wrong. Something had changed. Was it her father? Was Fire Lord Ozai really as scary, as monstrous as the servant kept whispering about? Was Azula really as affected as she seemed like the time they saw each other last? Was there more to Azula's urgency two days ago? Was there more than just a rebellious secret for Ty Lee being hidden from her father's sight?

Was there a reason why Ty Lee felt like she should be terrified?

"Good." Azula crooned, sighing once more. She looked at Mai, eyes communicating multitude of signals that Ty Lee would never live long enough to understand. Two demons. Two humans. Azula would never look at her like an equal. She was just a human. Azula's head cocked back to Ty Lee, eyes intent. "You. What do you know about these ghouls?"

Everything flashed back to her in quick succession of horrifying images.

The gold eyes. The round ears. The fangs. The very human body.

The blood.

Azula on her bed with a human, the stench of metal. Naked. The lingering smell of death.

June and that flash of lighting. Gold, Ty Lee saw. She never forgot. June had gold eyes. Humans never do, she had read. Blue, green, black and her own: brown. But never, gold.

The man with fangs. The dead woman's hand had been severed. Blood on his lips. He had wanted Ty Lee's too.

Monster.

Ghouls...

Ghouls were monsters, Suki said. _But we are trying to figure out a way to turn them back._

"Demons..." she murmured softy. And with this utterance came a sharp realization. "Demons create ghouls."

"Hmph." Nonchalantly, Azula sighed again. She...

She was not surprised.

Not even close.

"I expected that." Sardonic smile as she quirkily shook her head.

Her eyes were on the tied up Suki.

Instinctively, Ty Lee came in between.

...

...

"Ty Lee, go to your room!"

Suki was gone, her limp, unconscious frame deposited in one of the Dai Li's grubby hands, Ty Lee could not do anything to stop them. Ty Lee could not do anything to stop Azula. She felt powerless. She felt the throb of uneasiness grow into the heavy feeling of dread. _Humans are weak,_ Azula had said. _Humans are weak,_ even the servants agreed. They are nothing against the Princess, they said. They are nothing against demons.

Humans are nothing.

 _Humans are nothing._

And for the first time in twelve years, the Ty Lee who grew up with firebending creatures, with the strongest one of them all, realized that indeed...

She was very much a human after all.

She felt weak under Azula's judging glare, no better than the Water Pixies who whimpered when the floor was not clean enough. When there was dust on one of the royal family heirlooms or a pit in one of her cherries. But Ty Lee tried to tell herself that she was better, that Azula would listen to her like when she said she would like to sleep in her room. That Azula did not think she was weak. That to Azula, Ty Lee was more than just a human.

"But—"

" _Are you questioning me again, Ty Lee?"_

The eleven-year old winced. That tone. That tone again.

Like what Princess Azula used on a Earth elf slave, shortly before incinerating her into ashes.

But she plowed on, trying desperately to put on a brave font.

"What would you do to Suki?"

Azula huff of impatience was something that she was subjected for the first time too.

...

Azula frowned, not pleased with all of this at all. The turn of events had been exhilarating. Everything seemed to be against her these days. First, Long Feng and his toy. Then Father and another set of expectations put on her stressed shoulders. Then her mother. And now, Ty Lee getting chummy with a human girl in her two days aboveground? Who would be next? Zuzu coming as a rain to her parade?

"I'm just going to talk to her."

Ty Lee looked at her with utter disbelief. She knew her well. It was interesting how such a shallow minded creature could be so perceptive when she chose to be. Oh geez, why did she have to keep a human under her wing again?

"You doubt me?" she challenged.

Vigorous headshake. So hard, Azula was irrationally afraid that Ty Lee's head would be dislodged. She had been having these morbid thoughts these past couple of days. Thoughts of blood. Ty Lee's blood. Perhaps, she needed her fill for the week. It had been too long without human blood. She wondered briefly on how she had even survived.

"Good." She said absentmindedly as she thought of the human in the dungeons underground. Suki. Her name was Suki.

As if that ever mattered.

June was the only one she remembered from all the humans she had killed. She might have made her one of them too. The gold eyes. And the fangs. Those stood out even in the frenzy of almost getting assassinated by puny elves and even punier humans. Ghouls, the girl had mentioned. Ty Lee was almost attacked by one. Demons made ghouls. Demons made monsters.

What if June was not the only one?

That was clear, she deduced sourly as she watched Ty Lee get escorted. The fact that there was an established hunter faction calling themselves after a long dead Earth Kingdom Avatar is testament enough that this might have been going on for quite a while and a possible involvement of someone from the underworld. Demons were and had always been the most powerful of the races. The thought of the possibility of creating imitations, despite being a weaker and less durable version was enough to spark an intrigue of probable conspiracy.

Guns, such firepower that might match even their strongest firebending did seem to be just the tip of the iceberg after all, as the pixies were fond of saying.

Aboveground, somebody might be creating an army to be used against them. An army of snarling, uncouth creatures. An army of monsters that was supposed to match demons in their brute strength, possibly their flames as well. The Kyoushi Warriors were supposed to kill ghouls. What do they know? Were they just killing defectors? June was a hunter. Was this part of an elaborate scheme cooked by the Knights? Or were they just puppets manipulated by a hidden figure? Someone from the Earth Kingdom? The not-so-secret White Lotus?

Zuko? Uncle? Mother?

The long gone Avatar?

Humans.

They were using humans.

And it did seem that they would have succeeded had not been for this stroke of luck. Had Azula not been skilled enough to evade death. Had Azula not been able to come aboveground to fetch Ty Lee herself. Had Ty Lee not been attacked and saved by a hunter that held the promise of information. Just luck. Just luck that she managed to discover these creature's existence in time.

She smiled to herself, exultant and proud. Because then again...

Princess Azula, Conqueror of Ba Sing Se, the future Queen of the Underworld, was born lucky.

...

.

"Ghouls." Mai muttered, watching as the Dai Li produced Earth chains out of nowhere, forcing the still unconscious human girl against the wall. That must have hurt, she noted as the girl unintelligibly groaned when her back hit the wall too hard. Made of metal. This prison used to house a couple of powerful elves, like that one who stole humans in his spare time. Beside her, Azula's eyes were focused and rapt in attention, hawk-like eyes never leaving the scurry of activity inside the cell. "What do you think?"

"Problematic." Azula turned her head slightly, forehead creased. Both hand on her hips, she whirled back to face her squarely. She looked older than her one-hundred forty years, more haunted. Mai knew then that it was her job as the Princess' confidante, to proceed. Doctor Watson to Azula's Sherlock—that pretty interesting book about treasure hunting. Of course, she would ask the meaty questions to let the genius work on it. Mai thought that was fair enough

She sighed. "Have you questioned Ty Lee already?"

"I gathered from her reaction that these ghouls who attacked her have abilities that had shocked her. She, who can defeat my Dai Li with one hand. She, who was trained by the both of us needed saving to be alive now."

"Of course you would ask her to elaborate." State the obvious. That was part of her job description. It helped that it tended to annoy Azula sometimes too. "As much as Ty Lee can elaborate anyway."

But this was not one of those times. Azula was somewhat patient. Uncharacteristically so. She moved her shoulders, muttered something before resuming "It just confirmed my suspicion. Remember what I told you about June?"

"The gold eyes..." Mai drawled. "The fangs..."

"Yes. Almost like a demon. A monster indeed. If I think about it, it's almost beautiful."

"The Air Nomads said that about Sozin's comet."

Azula nodded, pleased. Mai must have said something right. She could not be bothered, really. "Exactly. Beauty is dangerous. Too much beauty is something to watch out for. I've got my ears pricked and curiosity awakened. How could there be 'ghouls' in London when we were the only demons using that portal? Father has China. The rest of the nobles prefer Imperial Japan. And June was the only one then that I left alive. But there was another one who attacked Ty Lee that time in the human world and there is a band of warriors calling themselves followers of Kyoushi. This has been going on for quite a while obviously as this girl..." She pointed at the bound human. "... apparently was trained since childhood."

"I think I am getting your point. You think your mother forgot to kill some of her food?"

"I would not be surprised. She has always been soft, feeding stupid turtleducks and doting on little Zuzu when she had a more worthwhile daughter to watch out for." Mother issues again. It took some self control for Mai to suppress a mocking roll of her eyes. "She had always avoided consumption. I remember because she once discouraged Zuzu of it too. Of course, because he was a dum-dum even then, he thought he should. That might explain why she was so malnourished and how did you describe it—a little out of it, when you saw her."

"But abstaining demons hardly look like that." Mai remarked thoughtfully. She was the one who saw the once Fire Lady after all. "The Fire Sages for instance."

"They were hypocrites. You and I both know that is human blood those old fools are drinking during worship services. Not that we even attend those."

"That's once a year."

"Mother might not even had her fill for ten. That's my point." Azula crossed her arms, staring intently at her bodyguard.

Mai took a deep breath, trying to digest the onslaught of both supposition and information. She was surprised that Azula found this much, had unearthed such intelligence that might have destroyed them. This was more than just humans being able to get guns whenever they wanted. This was humans not being as weak as they thought they were. "You think something bigger is going on? An uprising perhaps? A secret organization working with humans? We could not afford that now."

"Not when The North Pole and South Pole had somehow coordinated a course of action against Father, yes. If you think of it, a lot of things had been going for some time. But keeping his throne as the Phoenix King is his responsibility. I was just supposed to watch over Fire Nation."

"You are not telling Ozai about this then..."

"I'll take the big fish myself. I'll find out what is going on aboveground." Azula paused, raising her eyebrows. "I'll count you in."

"Go ahead. I haven't had this much mystery in my life since... uh... never." Mai found herself smirking, the most reaction she could project when her excitement was tweaked. Of course, Azula would use this opportunity. "I might have to read some of those human detective stories again. Just to know how they think."

"Don't bother. We can get information from her." Azula gestured towards the cell. Suki... was it? Suki was stirring awake, eyes half closed. Groans and the chains were ringing against the metal. They were brown. Quite pretty. Azula's type. She always went for the dark-haired ones. Mai thought, as she watched the girl thrash around in panic, that the Princess might be rubbing too much on her.

Pretty.

Humans.

Ugh.

"You hungry, Mai? From what I remember the last fill you have had was last year. You are looking quite unhealthy and if indeed I was right about an impending problem, I would need you in top shape" Azula did not bother to hide her amusement. "Make sure to keep her alive, okay?"

"We can share." Mai pointed out blankly as the prisoner met their golden eyes.

...

Gold.

But these two, in dark clothes and dark, too hot room, looks infinitely more stunning and exquisite than any of the wild and insanely driven creatures her mother personally taught her how to kill. Familiar too, as the huge chunk of brown, concrete rails somehow pulled back to accommodate the entrance of the two women. There was the quaking sound of moving Earth and then clicking, almost methodical steps. A gold crown glinted in the orange light and there was blue fire cradled in the palms of the shorter one with the regal and intimidating air.

The taller of the two followed like a shadow, but no less terrifying than her smirking companion. There was something familiar about it too. Whitechapel. Around Whitechapel Street, yes. Ty Lee... yes, Ty Lee. The cute Ty Lee who promised that they would see each other again someday. Suki had hopes that the girl would choose to join the Kyoushi Warriors after what happened to her mother, be the friend that Suki did not have in a group of hunters way older than her. But Ty Lee said that she had someone to come back to. Yes, she had someone to meet..

 _Ai..._

 _Asami..._

Asami!

Asami was looking at her, scrutinizing and watchful. And it was then that Suki's mind processed the cerulean ball of flames hovering from her hands, the sharp gold orbs that glowed in the limited luminescence. It was then that she felt the pain shooting in her limbs. Her arms were stretched on both sides and her feet were uncomfortably pinned against the hot, almost burning wall. Chains, she recognized like the ones they used to the ghoul Noriko was still trying to turn back into normal. She was...

She was captured.

Like a damn ghoul. Like the monsters that preyed for the flesh of humans. Who were these people? What do they want? Gold eyes... flames. Demons? Asami is a demon?

Demon?

What?

What in Kyoushi's holy name is going on? She wanted to scream. But her throat felt dry and there was something, just something in the way that Asami was looking at her. Like...

Like a predator sizing up its prey.

Like a demon measuring its human.

"I do apologize for the rather vagrant away of treating you as our valued guest." She spoke. Asami spoke. The authority of a revered leader. Like nobility. Suki was taken aback by her articulated words, far from the groans and guttural noises the demons... no, ghouls emitted. "But we don't reserve normal treatment for humans like you unfortunately. In my country, we usually ready a feast for visitors, let them feel at home but that is only for my fellow countrymen. You do not deserve such privileges as of yet. Do you have any idea where you are?"

Asami...

This woman, hardly an adult in all appearance. This girl...

 _You were a kid too._

This girl was with Ty Lee.

The girl... continued. "You are in my palace. Unfortunately, I would not be able to conduct a tour like I normally would for my guests. It is a wonderful place, I assure you. Do not be discouraged by the squalid state of your cell right now. We are several storeys underground underneath an active volcano. I'm sure you could feel how hot it is around here but the halls are much worse, I promise. Escape, in other words is absolutely out of the question."

Suki did not even have time to think of it. Escape. When you were chained and bound with hardly a room to move, escape seemed like a faraway notion. She clenched her fists, trying to summon her strength but she found that she could not keep her eyes away from this deceptively, beautiful tormentor of hers. The full lips moved, telling her of her death sentence but she could not even move a muscle.

"But my bad, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Princess Azula of the Fire Nation. This one here is my good friend, Mai. I wonder if my notoriety has reached as far as the slums of the human world by the way. Have you ever heard of me? The Monster amongst the monsters?"

Princess...

Azula.

That Azula.

The one at the winter solstice.

The one... who killed...Ty Lee's mother?

She must have gasped because Asa—no, Azula looked satisfied. "It seems like you do know me."

"What do you want from me?" Suki finally managed, struggling futilely from her cuffs. "Ty Lee... Ty Lee... where is she? What did you do to her."

"Worry not. Ty Lee is perfectly fine. You should be worrying more about yourself. Moving too much would do you no good." Azula raised her chin, brimming with the arrogance of the one who could freely stand. "Now I have a few questions for you."

The only thing that Suki could do was defiantly stare back. She would not falter. She would be strong. These spawn of the devil would not take what they wanted from her.

"What are ghouls?"

This made Suki gnash her teeth, "As if you don't know! You make them!"

"Interesting." Azula was nodding sagely. "Now, what if I say I have no idea?"

"You're a liar!"

"Hmmm, perhaps I am... Anything I should know more about the Kyoushi Warriors."

'Like I would ever tell you!" Spit. Yes, she would not tell them anything

But Azula nonchalantly just wiped the spittle off. "Amateur tricks. Just like an elf. That is probably you worship Kyoushi so much. Stubborn like a stupid rock."

"That's Avatar Kyoushi to you, demon!"

"Avatar? Hm, I see. The last one, we already killed did we not, Mai? Such a pity I was not the one who did it. I would have liked more challenge when I become queen."

"You..."

"Me, yes. I need a lot more from you. What do you say we talk about the other members of your group?"

"They will rescue me! You hear me... Mother would rescue me."

Azula's smirk made Suki realize how empty her words were. Those... Those were not even a threat. What could mother do? When a team of the elite Knights could not even trap this demon in a planned ambush. "With a woman called Noriko for sure? What are her abilities? Tracking ghouls? I know someone like that. We have not seen each other for years since she was banished though."

 _Wait.._

Was she talking about a demon?

Noriko?

Someone she knew from long ago?

"Ty Lee told me all about her. She helped you find ghouls amongst the millions of humans around the country, did she not? She was trying to turn a ghoul back. Desperate move right there. Sounds totally outlandish that is not to be expected of humans. What do you call her? A witch? Yes, she's totally a demon. Noriko is."

"That's..."

Azula raised two fingers.

"... impossible!"

Azula's smile told otherwise. "I'm sure they told you in your folklores. That demons can assume any human form."

Her fingers snapped and there was a brief flash of crackling, white light.

When it dispersed, Noriko was suddenly in front of her. But in that black and red armor Azula was wearing and she was grinning mischievously like Azula did just a few moments ago.

No...

"Does she look like this?" was the smug words that came out of Noriko's mouth. But it was not the gentle tone the old witch used. It was mocking, teasing. Azula. "Ty Lee is quite descriptive, is she not?"

Lies.

Everything is a lie.

"I have an idea—"

That was all Suki heard before she passed out once more.

...

.

"That was cruel."

"I might have overdone it, yes." Azula prodded her sandaled foot towards the slumped human again, making sure she was not faking it. It would not be the first time. Her subjects in these situations tended to prefer the comfort of troubled dreams than the reality of being at Azula's mercy. She had not done this for a long time. But messing up with someone else's head had always been quite entertaining. As expected, humans were quite disappointing. "But I have gleaned some information too. The Kyoushi Warriors thought of me as a substantial enough threat to tell a hm, probably a fourteen year old kid to be wary of me."

"Must have stroked your ego."

"It did. But it might be because of the Winter Solstice fiasco. I am sure that many fatalities had been quite newsworthy amongst the hunter circle." Azula gritted her teeth, felt a sharp sting in her side. The wound was supposed to be healed already. She really should refrain from imagining things. "On the other hand, as far as this girl knows, the Kyoushi Warriors is working independently. Otherwise, she would have threatened me with a more fearsome body. Like the Knights. I gathered that most likely, the Kyoushi Warriors are not working with them for some reason."

"She might not know it." Mai was doing a marvellous job in being a devil's advocate. Perhaps, this affair had captured her interest. Now, that would be a first. "That mother of hers might be working with them too."

"Only if they are part of some huge conspiracy that uses ghouls like the Knights used June against me but this girl genuinely believes that the ghouls are an abomination that we released to take over the human world. It is an idea but demons are not terribly interested with a land that thought gold and diamonds are precious. Humans would not be able to keep secrets to their subordinates. This girl seemed to know enough. Which does not come as a surprise. She is the heir apparent as she kindly told us herself."

"And that Noriko you changed into?"

"That was Ursa, of course. Only the nobility has the ability to shapeshift. She was the only one missing in action." She motioned for the Dai Li to begin the drill and the pair of men that she had previously called for began to attach their apparatus for further questioning. Azula would let them do what they do best first. Then she would begin to experiment with dear, pretty Suki. "As for the Avatar's possible involvement, it still remains a mystery. But the fact that this girl is aware of its history proves that they have had some information from a reliable underworld source. It might be Ursa herself but she would most likely name an organization she influenced after Avatar Roku. And she does not have that leadership skill required. I got that from my father. Zuko is the chip of her block."

The trademark lamps began to blare green. And right in front of Suki, it began to spin around.

"But we would know more about what she knows. I could be wrong but most likely, I am right."

The Dai Li agent stood straight before the revolving lamp.

"How does controlling a ghoul sound to you, Mai?" Azula's fangs are more prominent in the glow.

It was easy to figure out what line of thought Azula is following.

Suki would be back as a Kyoushi Warrior before the humans know she was ever gone.

...

.

Eight floors down. Sozin Volcano with blazing lava and burning rocks. The palace had always been just warm enough, even though it may become to Ty Lee with her thinner, human skin, quite unbearable in the summer. But the double doors leading to the basement generated heat that Ty Lee had never imagined before. It was sealed shut, the dragons carved on the door staring her down with their red diamond eyes. Her hand felt crisp and painful when she touched it. She did not think she could do it again. Not when her scream had already brought that kindly, old waterbender to her rescue and virtually half of the palace staff. Azula said she would not harm Suki. Azula said she would just talk to her. And yet...

No human would survive being inside that hell, if the burning doorknobs were of any indication of what was waiting inside.

"Princess Azula said you should stay in your room, Lady Ty Lee."

"But..."

"Princess Azula has some business to take care of inside. But she will be back. We will make sure to inform her that you are waiting for her to play with you Lady Ty Lee. So please, we need to get you back to your room and your wounds must be healed. "

 _Business._

"Princess Azula is just busy as of the moment."

 _Is this what Azula does whenever she is busy?_

 _To humans?_

 _To humans like Ty Lee?_

"But that room is so... hot..." She muttered. "That room... nobody could survive staying there for that long."

"Underworld creatures could, Lady Ty Lee and Princess Azula is a firebender, right?"

But Suki...

Suki was weak.

She was just...

... _human._

Unless,

 _Demons make ghouls._

Ty Lee looked at her burnt hands.

 _Demons make monsters._

...

.

She was a mess of heaving tears by the time the servants finally got over the panic of making someone close to their boss cry and finally brought her back to where she was supposed to be. She had interfered so much with her injured hand that the skin was parched and throbbing, redder than the skies of the underworld. The old waterbender gingerly probed the trembling fingers, gently running her own pointed ones at the burnt digits. The ancient pixie's skin felt thick, strong. It was very different from the sensation of her own, of Suki's. Humans were weak. Of course, they were.

Ty Lee was weaker than the slaves. Ty Lee was weaker than the weakest in this place. All this time, it had been an illusion. All this time, they had revered on her not because she was Ty Lee, but because of their fear of Azula.

Water slowly snaked around her right hand. Ty Lee snorted to herself amidst her replenished batch of tears. Here they go again. "Your hand has not even healed completely yet." The old lady unhelpfully noted, turning her palm over and adding more droplets of water. They moved in her command, dancing around coolly in her still burning hands. This was the first time she was ever burnt in the palace full of firebenderes."You are quite excitable aren't you? Typical of humans."

"Everyone says that." She responded softly, watching as the bubbles of water slowly hovered in the air. She never had the chance to appreciate how majestic this skill was. Slaves. They were slaves. And yet. Ty Lee who was almost like a princess herself in the palace could not even cure her own wounds. "Humans are weak."

"I know quite a few humans myself. But contrary to your belief, no, they are not weak."

"You knew humans before?"

The woman nodded. "Yes, before I was captured by the Fire Nation and was sold here." Ty Lee had no idea such a horrible thing happened to this kind person. So she used to be free, able to meet humans, able to walk around the beautiful human world and see the blinking stars in the skies. "That was two hundred years before though. I don't think I remember which country I was in."

"Weren't you in the service of Azula's father before?"

"She got me when she became Fire Lord. Then, her father took Ba Sing Se as his own city after crowning Azula Fire Lord. Though she hardly calls herself that."

"That must be horrible though." Ty Lee's eyes were downcast. "Being taken away from your home, from your real family." Like Suki. Like...

Like...

Her six sisters. Her mother.

 _Like Ty Lee._

 _No, she should not think like that. No, Azula saved her. Azula saved her from freezing to death that night during the winter's solstice. It was the elves who took her. And her parents probably did not notice she was even gone. Azula said so. And she loved Azula. She was grateful of Azula. She loved her. She blew steam on her tears. Azula..._

 _But was that really what happened?_

 _Suki was taken from her family too, right?_

 _And Azula, the same Azula who welcomed Ty Lee under her roof, did not even hesitate on doing so._

"Being trapped in this... prison. Just like that. But you were happy, right? I mean, I am sure it is not that bad. Azula is a great master. Right? Right?"

 _Right?_

"Not that bad indeed." The kind woman flicked a finger and the water bubbles stained with her blood popped into nonexistence. She produced another batch, little water balls floating around. "But of course, being free is better. I was regularly on the surface before. I met a couple of humans, became friends with them. They were not weak. Far from it. They were able to cross seas just with ships made of wood, imagine that. Even with waterbending, that had always been a challenge for us."

Ty Lee felt her breath ease gradually.

"So you are not weak either." The woman continued, touching her hand one more time before pulling back and revealing a completely fine set of fingers, normal and peach as though nothing happened. She reached for her face and began to dab on the trail of moisture leaking from her eyes. "Do not ever say that again. You are strong." The pixie's big smile presented a gap in between her white teeth. Ty Lee found herself giggling. "Stronger than anyone else." The woman started to laugh with her.

"Yes." She realized that it was quite easy to wipe her own tears off rather than wait for Azula to blow steam on it. She needed to be strong. She needed to be more than just a weak human Azula could evade answering questions from. She would be strong. She would no longer falter.

When she would see Azula again, she would be like those men who crossed oceans. She would demand information. She would ask her to free Suki because this was not the Azula that she knew. This was not supposed to be the Azula that she loved so much.

She was not weak. She never would be.

"I did not catch your name." Face now dried and her smile back in full force, Ty Lee asked the old woman who could somehow dry her tears when Azula was not around to do so. Yes, she was right. Ty Lee was strong. Azula kept her around for a reason. She would surely listen to her.

The old woman grinned and winked. Ty Lee was then certain that this wrinkled pixie had once been just as beautiful as Azula herself.

"You can call me Hama" she charmingly replied.

 **(TBC)**

 **If in any case you have questions about the universe, please do not hesitate to ask. I am every bit insecure that this might come off as confusing. I knew this world so well in my head, I fear that I might have missed an important thing or another. Lol. But I am quite confident that this chapter had hinted on the answer of a question I have been asking the characters since chapter one.**

 **Last chapter of the year. I hope everyone welcomes 2016 with a positive outlook and a pleasant smile. Thanks for reading and see you next time.**


	9. Mindboggling

**Nine**

 **.**

 _ **Mindboggling**_

 _._

 _._

She was about two centuries old when she learned the art of bloodbending. Of course, Hama had always been more than just a decent waterbender. Prodigy, they once called her, back when the Southern Water Tribe had thrived as a stronghold against the infernal, monstrous Demons. Prodigy, she recalled as she envisioned the pure look of pride in their eyes. Hope. Prodigy. The despair that crossed their sharp features when they dragged her away in chains.

"Tell me about your home!" The human girl chirped like that one particularly squeaky turtleduck in the palace grounds. The look of excitement glowing in her gray eyes was something that made Hama smile to herself. It had been long time since she had an audience as enthralled in her tall tales. The attention felt good. "Tell me about the Southern Water Tribe."

"Well, young lady." She paused, watching as the girl's eyes lit in anticipation. She waved one finger. "It is beautiful. Very beautiful." She settled.

"More beautiful than the palace?"

"Blue skies. Ice castles. Endless sheet of pristine white. You see them in your books, Lady Ty Lee." Human fairy tales with gallant princes and helpless damsel in distress.

When she met the young Princess Azula,- an imp with a cheeky, haughty grin that matched her accursed heritage and even more doomed upbringing—the old pixie then realized that the way the demons defined the word prodigy vastly differed from the teachings of the all seeing tribe elders. Azula stood out because she learned her forms fast—breathed fire as a child, conquered Ba Sing Se when she was only slightly older. Hama was who she was because of an unwavering patience, her ability to wait for the right time.

"Do you know how to fight?"

"Why do you ask, Lady Ty Lee?" She released the human's hand, cocked her head sideways. The title felt natural on her lips but she would not go too far to revere on the still foolish, infatuated girl. She fixed Princess Azula's ward one of her crooked, mischievous grins.

"I heard they were strong. Waterbenders. I mean, Azula does not really tell me much but the Northern Water Tribe..."

Right. Their sister tribe. They have been quite lucky all these years. Certainly, not strong. She did not remember much about Pakku but he was not too impressive.

"Well, I used to be the Southern Water Tribe's best fighter."

"Reaaaally?"Wide, protuberant eyes. Ty Lee let out a soundless, awed gasp. "Then how-?" _How come you did not resist?_

"Sometimes, you just need to surrender for your own good."

The words sparked a happy note towards the young human's eyes. Happy, because they were finally treading into a familiar ground. "That's right! The Fire Nation will share their glory with the whole underworld, right? You know that, right?"

Hama knew well who she was. Or more accurately, who she was going to be.

She was going to be the saviour, the one who would free this world.

"Oh yes, indeed."

She was almost two centuries old when she learned bloodbending. Such an art. Controlling a body with a simple wave of the fingers like they were mere lifeless puppets in her disposal. Messing with the men at sea had been quite enjoyable then, especially after discovering that she could destroy a whole country through it. Humans were foolish creatures. But they were far from weak, admittedly.

"Azula would end the war soon!"

Smiling had always been effortless for her, despite the many missing teeth shrivelling into old age decided to be an added perk. She had learned this several hundred years ago. A smile, even an obviously fake one had always been able to sway the foolish humans.

"Yes, indeed."

The human named Ty Lee beamed. She took her hand, shook it excitedly. Hama could feel her crimson human blood pulsing from her touch, coursing through the girl's veins. She had had enough practice of bloodbending over the years to know that she could effortlessly control ten humans all at once. But this human would be special. This human would be her ace in the hole.

Azula would indeed be instrumental in ending the war. It would be in her era, as she resides on the palace that had housed the tyrants that took the world for a thousand years. It would be in her era, as the chosen human wields the blade of retribution to end this thousand years of subordination.

Bloodbending could only control humans.

But then again, the oracle had already spoken.

It could only be a human that could bring about the Fire Nation's ultimate downfall after all.

Ever since she had brought Ty Lee here, on the Winter Solstice twelve years ago, Hama of the Red Lotus had known that.

She would get to her.

And she realized, as she spoke grandly of the humans' strength and noble feats, that she did not even need bloodbending for her to be the master of this puppet.

...

.

.

"I take it she is more responsive, now?"

"She is ready, Princess."

The Dai Li agent fluidly stepped back at Azula's silent command and the human—Suki, was it? The name was as ordinary as it could be—was finally in full view after the several yawn-worthy minutes of the Dai Li repeatedly _suggesting_ in their signature monotone that she was the princess' servant and nothing more. Or less. The rotating green lamp was dismantled off from the cell and Suki's once brilliant orbs of solid determination and defiance was now replaced by hazy, unfocused ones. This was not the first time that she had seen the taciturn elves in action but looking at the finished product gave her jitters and the creeps. She was supposedly the emotionless, unaffected one. Tch.

No wonder Azula took these Earthbenders into her employ. She enjoyed, relished on everything everyone else feared in the inane belief that it was possible for the great Princess to be devoid of her own.

The Princess in question was not miffed by all this one bit. Hands steeled behind her back, Azula calmly strutted closer. _Tap. Tap. Tap._ The rhythmic click of her heeled boots was intentional, the trained walk of the scheming predator. But this time around, the disciplined and seasoned human barely reacted. Suki only eyed them in a daze, mouth hanging into a slight, stupid-looking gape.

 _Seriously._

Azula cleared her throat. The dramatic spread of her legs making her look somewhat like a drill sergeant. A nasty, intimidating one. "You are my servant." She spoke, tilting her head towards the slumped and chained girl.

Nothing.

From the intensified blue flames of the wall lamp, Mai could see Azula's red lips curl into a satisfied smirk. "You are the _Princess'_ servant."

The carefully enunciated words brought a startling change to Suki. The hanging, undignified heap of flesh was all of a sudden alert, posture strong and steady despite the chains around her limbs. Her face was still blank, eyes even emptier. But in one single sentence uttered by her captor, Suki did not look as miserable and coldly detached from the world as she had been just a few minutes earlier.

Azula crossed her arms, breathed in with the superior air of contentment.

She glanced at her bodyguard, eyebrows raised like the same child who had built a better sand castle in Ember Island some decades ago. "Now, you cannot pretend."

Mai tried to suppress an amused chortle. "I'm impressed, I admit." In chains, Suki was still standing straight. Her knees were already trembling though from the sheer effort of fighting the restraints that were clearly meant to keep the captive down. Mai resumed. "I was not aware that the Earth Elves could have this much training in mind manipulation. The books about it could only go so far it seems."

It was another one of the Earth elfin powers that managed to make its way and be distorted in human folklore over centuries. The same way as the water pixies could seduce a hunter passing by the stream, the elves supposedly could implore humans to do whatever they wanted. Giving up their babies included. In reality, the only ones who could do it were the ones trained to do so. Like the Dai Li. And Long Feng. Most importantly, it only worked on humans. (Some humans could even do it, to a lesser extent.) The most probable hypothesis about the hunters who had ambushed Azula merely being unknowing victims of this ability was something that Mai had already pointed out but for reasons not mentioned to her, Azula had dismissively ruled it out in favour of a less likely conspiracy.

Which, Mai was loathed to admit, was starting to make sense.

"Under me, we made some improvements." The pride in Azula's tone was apparent. She shifted closer, her mouth curled into a small smile. Around them, the Dai Li looked as stoic as ever. Considering their lack of reaction, Mai realized that Azula's statement may not be an idle boast after all. "There was always a telltale sign in mindbending victims..."

 _Mindbending?_ Mai almost scoffed at the unimaginative name.

"like contracted eyes or unnatural smiles. A minute with them will be a dead giveaway. It's unbearable, as you know. You've seen Joo Dee."

She thought of the creepy, grinning pale elf that even optimistic, loving, hugger Ty Lee could not stand and rolled her amber eyes. "And you say you found a way to get around that?"

"Oh well. Things are still theoretical at this point." Azula gestured lightly towards Suki, craning her neck. "But she looks pretty normal, don't you think?"

"Too apathetic looking. It does not suit her."

"Ah. Of course, you should know." Azula clucked her tongue as she shook her head. She drew up a heavy sigh. "But we shall see." The knowing smile painted on Azula's face made Mai assess that she would soon be proven wrong.

"Suki?"

There is a small, reverent smile on the human's face. "I am the Princess' Servant."

Mai coughed. She would suppress it. She certainly would not laugh at this display of absurdity. "Now, _that_ is creepy."

Azula chuckled. Wow, the girl sure was in a good mood today. "But not Joo Dee creepy, would you agree?"

"Ty Lee creepy, more like." The pure adoration in the human's face as she waited for what Azula would address with her next was an overwhelming reminder of Ty Lee's inexplicable love and attraction for the demon princess. It made Mai wonder if Azula may have hypnotized Ty Lee into worshipping her after all. That was a thought to be filed away. "What can you make her do?" She decided to get to the heart of everything.

Suki's head turned towards both of them, back and forth. Her face did not look as vacant as it initially had. There was a glint of emotion in her eyes. _Normal._ At first glance, this face would be the type that a self-absorbed human would not spare a second look. But a longer stare would unearth its fake quality, its contrivance, the soul that was trapped in a body that was controlled by a silver-tongued demon.

"We can make her spill everything she knew." Azula said. "But you and I both know it would not be much."

"She's a kid." She agreed.

"Right. But we can find some other uses for her."

"So a... spy then?" She was beginning to see where Azula's precise and straightforward train of thought was headed for. As usual. The Trojan Horse, as the humans liked to label what the Princess essentially did to conquer the Impenetrable City. She wound conquer, seize her foe pretending to be one of their own.

"No." Azula eyes glimmered into that same thrilling look that somehow never failed to make Mai's heart hammer fast. it was no longer that intimate attraction she had with the other demon. It was fear. It was awe. It was that feeling that when Azula set her mind on one thing, she would certainly succeed.

Her fangs were visible from her smirking, red, red lips and Mai could not deny then that if there was anyone indeed who would get to the bottom of all these, it would be none other than the princess. She found herself shivering. Cliché. Cliché inside this scalding volcanic tunnel. "We will send a domesticated, powerful ghoul in their midst and we will crush these scheming humans down before they would know what came to them. This girl..."

Suki raises her head, expectant.

"...would be the hole in their ace."

...

.

Her next stop was the ones who called themselves Air Acolytes.

The ship was mooring to a stop in India. It was a military boat after all, meant for unlucky labourers to be sent to the fields and even more unfortunate slaves to be sent back. The set up was familiar. It seemed to her like the humans liked war as much as the demons did. It was ludicrous, this desire and drive to eradicate something of their own species solely for the reason of looting resources and taking advantage of people. She remembered telling her children how beautiful the human world was, how unethical, how wrong for them to consume the human blood when they could easily live without it.

She wondered if she had been lying to herself the whole time.

She would have to move soon. How, that was something she needed to figure out once she gets there. Cross the bridge, as the saying goes. Ursa had never been much for planning. Travel around Asia was notoriously a challenge, especially for a demon the most spiritual among these lands could easily detect.

China was a human country that was described like the home she left a long time ago. its endless plains and tall marvels of architecture was the reminiscent of the endless dream of freedom she once mooned about. Trapped in a palace with parents she could no longer see and a husband she detested, Ursa thought with some note of wistfulness that perhaps it was never much of a home after all. Fifty years. Her children would be past being little, impressionable imps now.

She tried to imagine Zuko being the honourable soldier he dreamed, pursued on being. That beautiful, good boy who reminded her so much of Ikem, who made the life as the second Prince's wife much more bearable. But Ozai had sworn he would never let that happen. Ursa had not heard of her only son for so long. She could only hope, with the remaining threads that still connected her to Agni that he was fine. He had Iroh with him. He should be.

Azula. She was a different case. Her reputation stretched even up to the human world, the intimidating figure of myth. The seductive character that burned cities in her wake. She had always been a difficult child, the very image of who and what Ozai wanted her to be. Ursa had thought that she had long since severed the bonds that tied her to the daughter she never wanted in the first place, when she left and decided not look back. But there was the relief she felt when she heard Azula survived from the knights. It was something that Ursa was ashamed to admit, she did not expect.

It scared her. How things had changed in only half a century. How she was once respected as the Princess, now thrown into a runaway ridiculed as a witch by humans. Her only daughter... feeding indiscriminately on them, creating monsters that haunted the night. Ghouls, the hunters coined this term. Vampires, the less unaware public describe in their books. And there was this human girl—Ty Lee, wasn't it?—raised and nurtured by Azula herself.

She could smell it. Azula's unique imprint on her. Peace and beauty. It was saddening. Azula had already branded the young girl as her own. She had known then that even under the Kyoushi Warrior's wing, she would still fulfil the destiny of being Azula's mate. She knew her daughter well. She knew that fiery determination. She knew her way of doing and accomplishing things.

She just did not expect that this was how things would go. That one way or another, to regain the balance of the world, she would have to sacrifice her children, the family she realized she did not regret having.

Ursa knew Ty Lee was the one.

The human in the prophecy Grandfather showed her. The human Avatar Kyoushi had hinted through a vision to the Warriors about. The human savior of the world the fisherman sang about in their songs. The human leader of the Air Acolytes, the one they called Dalai Lama was probably already aware of.

The spirit world's substitute to the long gone Avatar.

...

.

Zuko did not understand why they are even in this damn hellhole.

Spain this time. Thirty years of exile with an uncle who proclaimed himself a connoisseur of useless things (he called them 'souvenirs'), the scarred prince was sure that he had journeyed half the human world by now in search of the ever elusive Avatar. "Sozin and Azulon had searched faaaar and wiiiiiiide in the Underworld for the Avatar..." Iroh's sagely tone of unchallenged wisdom used to dazzle Zuko once upon a time. Nowadays, listening through it was an ineffective exercise of patience. "Our soldiers have already covered that ground and there was nothing. You need to approach this mission through the other side, Prince Zuko. You need to look somewhere no one has ever searched before."

He suggested, ten years ago after fruitless endeavours in the Earth Kingdom, to try the human world.

The idea was promising at first because... why not? It was not uncommon for some creatures from the underworld who were done with the Demonic Oppression (as they called it) to move while accepting every disadvantage that came with it. The Avatar, true to a sprite's evasive nature must have chosen this not so desirable form of refuge. How he would be able to detect him among the massive numbers of humans who bred like rodents was something he preferred not to think much about. Creatures of the underworld were powerless aboveground. Zuko missed bending fire but this is the only way.

In the human world, Zuko had noticed that Uncle was bit more active in the search. They emerged to the blue skies of Imperial Japan the first time and the young demon's heart soared with the earnest belief of finally having the chance. But ten years. Ten years of nothing but posing as two merchants while surrounded of the temptation that was human blood. Belowground, Azula would be enjoying being like that monster in human stories, now that mother was gone.

The thought of Ursa brought a pang in his chest. He wiped a sweat from his brow, watching as the citizens of Barcelona passed by. He was looking for her too. Father Lord couldn't have driven her far enough not to be found. It was a prize he was willing to take, Avatar or not. Many times, he had pondered on the peaceful life the human world promised for their exhausted souls. That if he ever found his mother, they could live in this place forever in peace. But he only ever was lucky enough to be born.

Ursa was gone off the face of the underworld.

He glanced at his wristwatch. Five in the afternoon. Uncle was still not back from his little, daily errand. He would have to light the candles in this little hovel that they managed to rent with the remaining diamonds they still have. Iroh never told him where he went. Zuko did not bother to ask anymore in the last five years.

He could feel, as he grew wiser and older, that Uncle only came with him because he was searching for something too. Here. In the human world.

He was just not sure if they ever were on the same page, if it was the Avatar as well.

...

She did not even notice that she already fell asleep (or unconscious. Her head weighed down as though dragged by sacks of pig chicken feed. Hama and her were just talking a while ago, weren't' they?) until she felt a weight shift on her bedside. Could the way the bedsprings creak under pressure even be familiar? Because even before opening her eyes, Ty Lee knew it was Azula.

She was used to getting her privacy invaded in the middle of the night. She lost count on how many times the Dai Li, one of the servants or even Mai barged in unceremoniously in her quarters to "check on her" at one point or another. The Fire Nation never seemed to have the same concept as most humans in the books do, namely locking their doors. It was there but it was never used. It felt like... what was it? A... metaphor? She remembered asking Azula once. Safety reasons. Yes, that was what the Princess told her.

It made her heart swell with pride at the time.

Azula did not want to lose her.

But then again, the princess had always been careful, almost hoarding of her possessions. Like the golden headpiece that always had to be polished in perfection. Like her favourite mongoose dragon that should be fed the best quality. Ty Lee never once felt like a pet or a possession though...

Or so she tried to tell herself.

"Ty Lee." The voice inspired an alertness that jolted said girl to rise and look at her guardian. The room was already bathed in blue-hued candlelight and through the sharp shadows, Azula looked even more ethereal. She was dressed in her armor, like those times she came from "war" but her face was serene and calm for once. There was even a small smile painted on her face. Ty Lee resisted this urge, this overwhelming desire to touch the perfect countenance and immortalize its contours in her memories.

"I'm glad you did not leave your room." Azula continued, looking around. She was commending her. Approving and positive. "Just like I told you to."

The words jerk Ty Lee back off her trance. She shook her head, as though warding off the momentary disorient from her surroundings could look like the superficial battle to keep awake. She shrugged off the sheets from her body. _Suki._

 _I need to know where Suki is._

"Azula..."

A frown. Azula's eyes was drawn on her injury."What happened to your hand, Ty Lee?"

That tone.

That tone again.

"I—"

The Princess, in a motion too fast for Ty Lee to process grabbed the bandaged arm roughly and Ty Lee could not help but yelp in pain. "Who did this to you?" There was alarm, agitation in her voice. Anger. Azula's teeth were gritting and Ty Lee's sensitive touch could feel heat emanating from the firebender's thick skin. "What happened, Ty Lee?"

"Azula!" She struggled.

"Who—"

"It hurts!"

It was as though pure instinct took over as Azula registered Ty Lee's pained outburst. She let go of her arm, wide eyed. Ty Lee inched away slightly, nursing on the singed cloth around her arm.

She sniffled. Her face was damp. Her heart beating too erratically to be told to calm down.

Then, yet another something familiar occurs. She felt a finger on her chin, a wave of heat blow on her face. Steam. Azula's lips were very close to her face, puckered. Ty Lee did not even realize she was already crying.

It was her first memory, that one thing she had always held as only hers. Ty Lee's tears evaporating into steam like nothing. It was that one thing that only she and Azula and no one else shared. It was that one thing that usually comforted her...

Until it did not anymore.

The silence that ensued was the most uncomfortable one Ty Lee ever had with the Princess. She usually could implore herself to find something, anything to talk about. But right now, the words just did not come. Azula herself looked for once, like she was postponing being an instigator this time until...

"You have my permission to speak, Ty Lee."

Ty Lee did not realize it was what she was waiting for all along.

 _Weak,_ a voice in her mind said.

 _Humans are so weak._

She exhaled and finally spoke. "Where's Suki?"

Unfazed, Azula only raised her chin to comfortably reply. "She's safe underground. With the Dai Li."

Truth. She could see. Azula was speaking the truth.

Ty Lee did not understand why she felt so compelled to check twice.

"What...?" _What did you do with her?_ She did not dare voice out. Ty Lee sighed mightily and proceeded. "What did you want with her, Azula?"

"I just wanted to talk." Straight face. Nothing irregular.

 _Elaborate._ "What... else?"

Raised eyebrows. "Well, what else should there be?"

"What did...?" Ty Lee paused, deciding to look directly at her eyes. "What did you want to know, Azula?"

"Things..." Azula frowned darkly. Her brows creased in blatant suspicion "Why do you want to know, Ty Lee?"

 _Because I am not weak._

 _Because I do not want to be left in the dark anymore._

 _Because..._

 _Because I want to know more, Azula._

 _I want to know more about where I came from._

 _About the life that I almost had._

 _Because..._

 _I want to know why you do these things I probably could not even imagine..._

She did not dare to say all these things. Instead, Ty Lee folded her knees as she fidgeted through and breathed out: "What did you do to Suki?"

"I told you, Ty Lee." Azula was losing her patience. Her lip curled. "I just wanted to talk to her. Nothing else."

 _Lie._ She could see,

 _Lie!_

"Azula..." She stared deeply into unyielding golden eyes and Ty Lee found herself stressing, courageously firmly as she felt something sting her eyes once more. " _What did you do to Suki?"_

The look of shock and disbelief in Azula's face was just too much,

Then like a lead ball dropping in between, a heavy sigh of resignation heaved from Azula's chest as she began to laugh. The sound of it was unsettling and Ty Lee realized what she only did belatedly. _Scary,_ is the word her limited vocabulary could only provide. Azula was.

"You leave me no choice, Ty Lee."

The last thing she felt were soft, demanding lips placed over hers and the taste of smoke as the world spiralled into darkness.

...

...

.

"That was harsh." Mai said something of the same context earlier this day and at the risk of sounding too repetitive, the bodyguard also reiterated how unnecessary the action was. In her defense, Azula had done yet another thing that branded her to the cruel and heartless department. Poor Ty Lee laid crumpled like a sack of meat on Azula's arms, effectively neutralized.

"I guess steam and tears do not work as a tranquilizer now, eh?"

"Shut up." Mai could tell then that she was treading on a precarious ground. She never heard Azula so livid, never saw a glare burning this much ire. The following order was delivered with unprecedented urgency. Not even her life in danger could make Azula express panic like this. "Have one of the Dai Li set up their equipment here. We have another job to do."

"Azula..."

"Do it!"

Mai was too far gone in this game to be perturbed. She crossed her arms, lifting her head petulantly "She knows too much? Kill her. Dispose of her. Why go all the trouble trying to make her forget to ask questions? Why go all the trouble to bring her back to that naive human we are not supposed to raise?"

She just wanted to see Azula's reaction.

The Princess, much to Mai's inner delight, scowled.

"Be careful Mai..." Azula glowered. "You are asking too much questions."

The assassin smirked triumphantly.

"You really..." She stretched the words, smiling in sweet victory. "You really are afraid of losing her, aren't you?"

"Shut up!"

 **(TBC)**

 **I needed this out of my system because it is FINALS WEEK and I have a need on venting on my creative outlet. Everything is memorization in my curriculum and that frustrates me because I hate studying for exams so much.**

 **FUN FACT: Because I already mentioned the hunters of the story, we will also have the humans that essentially have an idea of their existence and worship them. Like the Kyoushi Warriors and this time, the Air Acolytes that is obviously equivalent to the Dalai Lama's followers. This has had a slow development so far but things should pick up pace by now especially since we kind of have an idea why in the world is baby Ty Lee in the underworld in the first place.**

 **See you next time and tell me what you think!**


	10. Bloodstain

**.**

 **TEN**

 **.**

 **Bloodstain**

.

.

It was the sound of horror that awakened the palace—or at least the Dai Li agents stationed right outside the Lady Ty Lee's bedroom. They were alert, prepared for the _very_ worst as they barged right into the unlocked door. The mindbending effects varied from one person to another. They went with the procedure, always expecting that there would be side effects but the sight the met them was baffling and almost induced a cringe from the stoic men. Good thing, they were elves.

"There was no visible sign of injury. Lady Ty Lee herself did not seem harmed. Just disoriented." Squad Leader number three effortlessly kept on par with Azula's hurried pace. For the life of her, Azula could not recall his name. "But in order to be certain, we have already sent for the Water Pixie, Hama. She should be attending to the Lady's needs now."

"And this got you guys so worried because?" Finally, they reached Ty Lee's bedroom door. Azula barely got an hour of sleep after the agents concluded the mindwipe session to be complete. These past few days sure were quite hectic. Damn.

"There was blood everywhere. Human... blood, princess. A lot of it."

The words made her pause from turning the knob. She felt herself involuntarily shudder. There weren't supposed to be any side effects. "Blood?"

"There was no wound. At least, not that we can see. From her clothes, I mean." The normally infallible elf seemed quite flustered. Red-faced and embarassed, he lowered his head. "Nor did we find any evidence of an assailant."

Azula cocked an impatient eyebrow.

"But the stain on her clothes seemed to centre the most around her... trousers... I mean, the lower part of her body. There was none around her torso. But... " The blush on the man's face worsened.

Then it hit Azula. _Oh._

Of course. Ty Lee was a human. A human in the brink of adolescence. A fruit that is about to ripe. An animal that was about to mature. There was nothing much to read about the subject. Humans did not really feature the female anatomy and its mysteries much in their literature. Or in general, females. Those misogynistic bastards! But she heard June mentioning this monthly visitor before. It was supposed to be natural. Some human thing that happens to every normal girl. It was an oversight to suppose that Ty Lee would be any different. She was twelve and prone to as much hormones that even the underworld youth was unfortunately abundant of.

This would be disgusting.

"Stay here." She barked. From his audible sigh of relief, the man seemed just more than glad to comply.

And Azula understood the reason why because when she opened the door, an almost unspeakably pungent smell overcame her senses. It smelled worse than Death itself. For the first time, the unconscientious Princess of the Underworld found herself utterly revolted with the smell of human blood.

"Princess" A voice greeted and Azula found herself looking at the old waterbender that had always been in the palace for as long as she could remember. Hama, was it? Sounded about right. Ty Lee was awake, wide brown eyes trained towards her guardian. She was not wearing the same garments that she had passed out with just a few hours ago. She probably did not even remember that part. The Dai Li assured Azula that it had worked. It always did.

No side effects.

This never failed. No history of that, Princess. Ty Lee would forget. Ty Lee would forget about that human she seemed to care about so much, just as the human had already forgotten her.

Why? Azula had asked herself many times. Why would Ty Lee go so far as defy her, Azula of all people merely for the sake of a human peasant she only met the day before?

 _What did you do to Suki?_ What did she do? She just did what she always did to humans! Why would Ty Lee suddenly care?

Why?

 _Why?_

Azula avoided those inquiring, protuberant eyes and the same parted lips she had tasted through smoke and tears. Instead, she turned impassively towards Hama and gave the ancient waterbender a perfunctory nod. "I believe it happened." It was not a question.

"I knew it was bound to." Her tone of voice was much too jolly for Azula's comfort. "I just did not expect it would be this soon. You were twelve, weren't you, Lady Ty Lee?"

Azula frowned, not one to appreciate being blatantly ignored. "Yes. Yes, she is."

The impertinent old woman did not seem to accept that as an answer. "Lady Ty Lee?"

"I am twelve." She squeaked, still looking at Azula. Her eyes held a note of something Azula has never seen before. It was familiar. The eyes of someone demanding information and doubting what was given. Suspicion. She remembered now. The same eyes as Ursa gave her when her idiot of a mother was accusing her of something.

 _Azula..._

 _Did you do this?_

Coldly, Azula met her eyes. When, as fully expected Ty Lee shrank in her glare, it did not give Azula the satisfaction she thought it would. Once more, she turned back to the old pixie. "I believe it is about time to inform Ty Lee that this is normal, waterbender. That this is just some disgusting human thing." And this was absolutely out of her control too, she did not add.

"Ah yes, yes. Of course, Princess." Azula absolutely did not approve of the comforting hands on Ty Lee's shoulders. Hama gently whirled the girl around, leaning down as she appeased the dejected and still confused girl with a tone Azula bitterly recognized to be motherly. One tooth was missing from her comforting grin. Disgusting. "You are menstruating, Lady Ty Lee."

"Menstruating?" Another glance was thrown towards Azula. The amusement and surprise about Ty Lee being able to pronounce such an alien word dissolved through the unfamiliar look on Ty Lee's face. Fearfully, it flitted back to safety. Ty Lee looked inquiringly at the waterbender but the expression of distrust in her eyes was etched in Azula's mind.

A slow, sagely nod. Hama spoke like an authority to the subject. "Do you remember about the books you read about how when young imps come of age? Menstruation is the human equivalent of what lusting for blood is for demons."

"It is?" This idea did not seem to ease Ty Lee's tension one bit. Azula could understand. Those were horrible choices of words.

"It is the closest to it, anyway."

"Does that mean-?" The horror in her eyes flashed. Ty Lee was not given the chance to complete the sentence.

Azula raised one finger and sharply eyed the one thousand-year old woman before her. The slave, to her chagrin did not even so much as flinch. "I might as well do the explanation. You did not seem to be doing a good job of it."

"I am sorry, Princess." Insincere, Azula evaluated the apology with some ire. The nerve.

"Dismissed." She huffed, not missing the slight smile she could only describe as malicious etched on the woman's wrinkled face. Right then, she was sure. It was not just her imagination anymore.

The woman wanted her to see that.

Filing this incident on the back of her mind, she turned back to her ward.

Ty Lee was at the other side of the still stained bed when Azula sat on the other. She crossed her legs, inhaled and exhaled. The metallic, very unpleasant smell was overpowering. She thought of anything, something that she remembered about this subject, only to come up with explanations no more attractive than what the damn pixie had inconsiderately spouted.

"Now, Ty Lee..."

"So, it was not caused by what you did to me last night?"

The words were punctuated by a hard look never seen from the young human before. Silence. Long, stunned silence. Ty Lee waited. Azula deliberated. "What are you saying-?"

"You..." Ty Lee hesitated briefly before ultimately narrowing her eyes with resolve that she could never attribute to the flighty young human. Ty Lee never questioned her like this before. "You breathed smoke on me."

She was not supposed to remember that.

The girl before her should be the same human who sulked in her birthday , insisted they play stupid board games and read all about dragons. Not this fearless, tactless girl who blatantly questioned her motives, scolded her on her actions. Ty Lee was supposed to be the human who waited for her eagerly at the doorway, who embraced her in ways no one else in the castle seems to. Ty Lee is supposed to be that one person who loves her, who adores her, not for being the clever and beautiful Princess Azula who conquered races and led armies hands but only as the Azula who she was forever thankful to. It was why Azula kept her alive all this time. It was why...

It was why Azula appreciated her.

And even with the long pause, the normally silver tongued Princess could not contain a sharp, shocked gasp. "You remember..."

"Of course, I do." Ty Lee sounded... angry. For the first time in her life, Ty Lee levelled Azula the look one would grant a person who was undeserving of anything good in the world."Why shouldn't I?"

It was as if the world stopped. Azula clenched her fist and asked herself the important question. How could this be? She was not supposed to...

She was not supposed to...

 _She was never supposed to look at me like this._

Not like how everyone else looked at her.

How could Ty Lee remember?

All of a sudden, the door opened—no, it was almost pushed off the hinges. Her bodyguard was on the doorway, backed with a man she immediately recognized as the Royal Firebender that must never abandon his post at the Gates unless...

Mai was panting heavily as she drawled out two damning words Azula thought she would never, ever hear in her lifetime.

"We are under attack."

...

...

"Empires such as theirs can rise back even in the face of the mightiest adversities. Threats do not matter, for even the men who insist for liberty only desires to wrestle for power. These impure motives are destined to fail in the will of the fire, as ill as its origin may be. No, empires such as theirs are only fated to crumble from the inside. For this is the only way..."

Ursa closed her eyes. The bald, oddly muscular monk placed the scroll on the cauldron of blaze and it sparked upwards, as though calling to the guidance of the heavens that once denied its protection from the innocent ancestors of these good people a thousand years ago.

"... this is the only way we will put out the flames of cruelty, of the sheer violence that have enslaved the world that we should be basking in. That have killed our people!. For this empire to crumble and fall from the inside. We will take this war as Ba Sing Se was taken. We will take this war in the only we know we could. This is done in the place and honour of the long gone Avatar..."

There it is. Ursa held her breath. This is it. The plan. The plan. Against Ozai. Against everything his ambition represented.

Against Azula.

The substitute for the long gone Avatar.

She shut her eyes once more and waited with bated breath as the man who called himself Zaheer proclaimed.

"The White Lotus has failed us."

She refused to think of the daughter she had abandoned without turning back. Her path has been so misled, just as her brother's has been, forked by the way only a child raised like them can only pass through. But these are sacrifices that Ursa found that she was willing to make for the world, even as she failed to ever get used to the guilt.

"But the great flower Lotus blooms twice in the Underworld. There is salvation still and we are that Salvation." A dramatic pause. The crowd of outcasts wait. These people, pushed away from their homelands. Red Lotus, they call themselves. Hope, they want to believe themselves to be. "We are Freedom!"

The torches flare. Ursa's eyes widen. There was a firebender too?

How many were on their side?

"All Hail the Lotus!"

The people answer with an intensity and determination Ursa was quite certain she had never experienced before.

...

...

The palace was in full alert.

Azula could not believe she had been _this_ distracted about everything to actually overlook the safety of her own turf. She had been so focused, so driven to squash down the probable threat her ever-omniscient foresight has warned her to be wary of. The thing with the ghouls might still be years away to be realized, for all she knew. And yet, she had lost sleep, with her concentration compromised, while she played around with humans. She was so distracted, she forgot about all these pests who never gave up trying to break their walls down.

"They have some kind of new machine that can go underwater." Mai's commentary proved to quite helpful this time around. Azula watched with creased brows as her men—and these were the elite—were thrown around like weightless cards helplessly. They were on the defense. Defense! Azula could not believe this is happening.

"It allowed them to go through the Gates of Azulon and sabotage everything around the vicinity of the Royal Palace for the past couple of days. We are yet to hear about the citizens that might require rescue and provisions. Evacuation is out of the question right now." Then Mai went ahead with her infuriating way of stating the obvious once more. This damn woman liked riling up feathers that were already burning. It was _very_ unhelpful. "We are short in manpower even with your Dai Li around."

Azula's eyes flashed.

"That is not a disadvantage, Mai." She admonished, not appreciating all these. Mai was absolutely hopeless in the audacious motivation side of warfare. The men within earshot were getting so visibly queasy, any more of her friend's negativity could render them useless for what she still had in store."Not at all."

Mai, frustrating as ever, knew that of course. "Enlighten me then, Princess."

"We'll proceed to the first line of defense. It should be sufficient. I am sure these barbaric creatures would not even have the honour of seeing the second." She titled her chin and gestured for her generals to listen closely. "Now, do exactly as I say."

In the frenzy of defending the country her father had entrusted her with (while pondering on the dire consequences: "This negligence is unforgivable, Fire Lord Azula."), Azula totally forgot about the very unpredictable charge she left in her room.

She was distracted, indeed.

...

...

Whatever Azula tried to do with her, it did not work.

But she remembered it being an unpleasant sensation, perhaps perverted. Even now, she felt lightheaded, reliving the feeling of her head being picked around by monotonous words and green, creepy lights with every step of the way towards Suki. The palace was in full alert. Though she would not describe the strain in the postures of the servants pandemonium just yet as Azula was never the type to easily panic. Instead, she was confronted with hushed whispers between the slaves and barks of orders from an authoritative voice she did not recognize.

But it was easy enough to get past anxious, edgy elves who were conflicted with desires to be rescued and fear of being branded as traitors. Ty Lee did not realize these nuances yet. The politics of war eluded her. For the moment though, she only enjoyed the ease in which she was able to proceed towards the Hell Chamber, unhindered and not fussed by elves who feared Azula.

 _Azula._

The demon princess was her beginning, her everything. For the longest time, the life that Ty Lee ever knew was only her and the world she ever knew was the one with Azula in it. This girl that she was thankful for everything of. This girl that she loved more than anything else in the world. And yet, she found this views challenged by the existence of a mere human. Now that she could put a sympathizing identity to someone Azula would kill without hesitation made the deaths she willingly ignored in her naiveté more than a distant memory.

Those girls, those humans Azula killed...

They deserved to live too. Suki does.

This was a dangerous thought, the young human decided as she ran through the basement hallways two steps at a time. She could remember everything before she passed out. _You leave me no choice Ty Lee._ There was the taste of smoke, the smell of fire and the feeling of _Azula's lips on hers_ as darkness claimed her senses. She remembered her mind being thrown into a heavy haze, the fog of unknowing trying to consume her. But she fought through it. She fought it. Because something in her told her she should. Something stronger than the voice who told her to stop.

Then there was blood.

Even before Azula had arrived, Hama was already filled with the assurance that this was absolutely normal. It was just a human thing, she said. It would only be for a couple of days, she said. The bleeding has not ceased yet but Hama had her wear some kind of cloth to staunch the flow in the meantime. "I'll help you change it." The woman had offered, much to Ty Lee's relief. Even at twelve, she had the inkling she could trust anyone else in the palace with this. Not Mai.

And definitely not Azula.

Only one more right turn and she felt like she could pass out. Hama had warned that too much physical exertion would be taxing for her "condition". So much for normal then. It hurt and her lower body could barely bare another lap anymore. She gave herself a minute to unwind. Above her, she could feel the earth shake.

Azula could handle that.

It never happened before but Ty Lee could confidently pronounce that this sort of things were far below Azula. For now, she decided to take advantage of this as a distraction. Plan: free Suki. She had to see her. Then, she could go and cross the bridge. Azula would be displeased. No, Azula would be furious. But she could deal with that.

Ty Lee told herself she could deal with that.

The fleeting thought of what Azula might do to her once she got wind of what she was up to made Ty Lee realize how much she feared Azula after all. She feared her. She feared everything she stood for just as much as she loved her for everything she was.

She was grateful then, that the temperature underground was not as unbearable as it was earlier. The sweat gathering on her palms was discomfort enough.

Wait. Then the telltale lead ball drops.

It was supposed to be hot here. Really hot. It was called the Hell Chamber for a reason, of course. It would be too much to think it was just for style. Elated by this observation, Ty Lee snapped up and headed straight towards the Dragon Double Doors that burned her hand a couple of hours ago. The gates to hell were imposing and just as fearsome as ever. But its proximity was not as smouldering as it had been. Ty Lee realized that this was becoming much, much easier than she initially dreaded it would be.

It was a welcome respite for all these confusion lately. At least, she has a pretty clear idea on what to do now.

She reached for the knobs and pushed it open.

She was not burned.

 _She was not burned._

Suki, here I come.

,…..

.

 _No human can survive here._

But the thought was gone like mist, replaced immediately by Azula... Azula... Azula. And nothing else but Azula. The vision of golden eyes solidifying into a short, slender but strong figure. Azula, who she must obey. Azula, who she must serve. Azula, who she must give her life to. Her master. Her creator. The creature's tongue ran into her protruding fangs, tasting blood. Her master's blood. Where was she? Where was master? She was hungry.

She did not remember her name. She did not remember anything beyond Azula and everything she was made to know about her. The creature could not look back into her humanity for she had none of that anymore. She did not know it yet. But tonight, Suki was no more. Azula called her that, was the only thing she could process right now. Hence, I would call myself Suki as well.

Azula was her beginning. Azula was her everything. Azula was her master. Azula was her life. The taste of Azula's blood still lingered in her heightened senses, wafting in her mouth. She panted, rattled on her chains. Azula... She wanted to see Azula.

The door opened.

But it moved with a resounding groan, very much unlike the smooth retraction she had seen already a couple of times whenever one of those green-clad men would check up on her. Instead the door seemed to collapse, right before her eyes and the green glow that once bordered the sides of the huge rock that covered her cell dimmed into nothingness.

For now, the most that this reborn creature could expect was the intruder to be her master, herself. Or the other one. Mai? But the ghoul who was once a human named Suki would be met with the first disappointment in her memory as a monster.

Instead of Azula, Ty Lee emerged from the cracked concrete, looking rather startled. "I just touched it." Suki registered her stunned whisper with her sharp hearing. The human girl was bedraggled and exhausted, a inconspicuous bandage wrapped around her right hand. Behind her, she could see the frame of the green-clad man she saw just an hour ago, prone and grunting on the floor.

"What did you do to him?"

The question seemed to have surprised the dopey-looking human. Suki knew who she was. It was part of the innate knowledge she seemed to have the moment she woke up. She knew everything she needed to know about Azula somehow, like an instinct. She knew this was Ty Lee, Azula's human ward. She knew this was the one she was never supposed to interact with. She knew this was Azula's most precious person.

She knew she was jealous.

She did not know this was Ty Lee, the friend Suki had when she was still a human.

But she was no longer one. And everything that embodied her humanity was rudely taken away from her. All Suki could manage now was to squint at this human girl and state without recognition: "You were not supposed to be here."

The girl's mouth was agape and she looked even more stupid than ever. Why was this girl alive underground anyway? The temperature was horrible for even... the elves. Right, the elves. For a human, it would be downright suicide. Something about an active volcano. Another thing about escape being impossible. Suki felt she somehow knew that... she was not sure.

"I came here to save you." The ghoul heard the human say and she had to admit, she did not expect that. Save her? Save her from what? She tried to lean closer to this child spouting nonsense but the chains around her wrists were preventing her to. She could break out of it. She knew that. She was strong. She was a demon, after all. But Azula said, no _ordered_ , her to stay this way.

"I am so glad you are okay."

"I am." _Clang._ The irritating sounds her restraints made seemed to draw the human closer to her. In a second, Ty Lee was at her side, inspecting and peering around her. This girl. This stupid, stupid girl was the most precious person to Azula. This girl looked like she pitied her. This girl appeared regretful. Suki found out that she detested that.

"This is harsh. I am letting you out of this."

This girl smelled good.

The instinct to sink her teeth to this daft, little, stupid human girl's creamy flesh over rid her master's orders. It was the desire to feel that ecstasy once more, even though her blood did not smell half as good as the pure one that flowed along Azula's veins.

Chains and all, Suki pounced.

...

...

She saw fangs.

Suki had fangs.

The gold eyes were wide and crazed in a way she had only seen once before. There, in the streets of Whitechapel. It was then that Ty Lee finally knew what Azula did to Suki. It was then that Ty Lee knew Suki was dead.

She was out of her chains and stronger than Ty Lee expected her to be. The guttural moans she emitted was an unearthly cry and the unnatural strength in which she found herself pinned to the ground was something even her well-trained limbs could not hope to combat. But the flailing of Suki... no, this monster's arms, were no longer as frenzied as it had been a second ago. She tried to remember anything, anything that the human Suki had told her about ghouls. But Suki's salivating mouth was now curling to a chilling smirk and Ty Lee found herself transfixed to the countenance that was so unlike the bubbly, the optimistic, the good...

And so unlike the feral, wild creature she had seen back in the human world.

"I wonder, what is so special about you?"

The voice was not Suki's. The voice was not that of a friend who hoped to protect humanity against monsters. It reverberated around the room like an omen. Of death. It was an omen of her death.

"Princess Azula liked you so much. I know that. How did I? I just do. I hated that. Why do I? I just do." She trailed off but was still running her fingers on stray strand of her brown hair. Suki made a deliberate motion of licking her lips. "I drank her blood you know, just as she did mine. It was an exchange. It was... a bond. It was... heavenly. It was the best thing ever. But then, it was my first taste. Hmmmm... Let's see how yours come to compare."

She bared her fangs. Ty Lee flinched and struggled some more.

"But I'm curious." She did not even realize she had already closed her eyes. Ty Lee felt Suki shift slightly as she set herself on Ty Lee's stomach. Both her legs weighed her down. _No escape. Omen of death._ "Who was Azula to you?" A finger feathering her chin. "Your saviour? Your keeper?" Tilt. "Your beginning? Just like mine?" She leaned closer. Dangerously. Ty Lee felt warm, reviling breath ghosting on her neck, "And am I not allowed to slurp your blood? Are you hers? Would she pin you down like this? Touch you like this someday?" She felt fangs grazing her skin. "Would she...?"

A tongue run swirls on her throat. "Would she kill you like this?"

Sharp teeth pierced through. "Would she bite you like-?"

"Suki."

The torches blared. And the room was warmer than it was earlier. The voice was familiar and in the instant that Ty Lee recognized it, Suki leaped off her.

"My Princess!" She sank to her knees, rigid and alert. Her bloodlust seemingly to have evaporated into thin air. Suki was prim and proper. Suki was impassive. Suki was like a demon. This was not the Suki she knew. This was not. "I overstepped my boundaries."

"For this you deserve punishment." And there was a spark of blue flames as Azula snapped her fingers.

Screams. Suki screamed as the flames licked on her skin. Ty Lee could only helplessly watch as the girl she once called a friend burned into the deep pits of hell.

Azula stood beside her and raised her hand to cover her eyes. "You've seen enough."

"What-?"

"She would regenerate. I did try this already. She was the perfect ghoul. She could control her urges, she was powerful. She heals fast. A few burns like that would be history by tomorrow. But she needed to be put in her place. She must not do that. Not to you." A pause. Azula had her eyes closed. "Never to you."

And even with the hand obscuring her vision, Ty Lee could still make out the sparks of electricity crackling from Azula's other hand.

"You need to be put in your place too. The things that you would want to protect might end up hurting you. So choose wisely. I do not know what happened. You were never supposed to remember all these. You need to go back to bed, Ty Lee."

 _Lightning._

"This won't hurt but it will not tickle either."

And she let the spark go, flying towards Ty Lee in top speed. She knew what would happen then. She would be out cold, like Azula always did with her. Steam and smoke did not work anymore. So she would resort to this. She would kill her. Perhaps, Azula was always meant to.

But the lightning fizzled out before it reached her.

 **(TBC)**

 **.**

 **.**

 **I was asked by reviewer, mpowers045 whether Ty Lee ever gives Azula "the talk". It would be hilarious if this is just a slice of a human girl's life with demons who never age (I wish). At this point of the plot, it is impossible for me to incorporate that. Instead, I took the next best thing: menstruation. Then it got plot heavy because I realized that is a nice way to discover things after rewatching the Carrie movie remake. I think at this point, you know what this means. I fell victim to the Twilight trope even in the earliest draft, you see.**

 **And oh: Oh Suki.**

 **Drop a word :D**


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